Stems and branches creeping, rooting; plants forming dense to open patches or mats; stems up to ± 10 cm., silky-hairy; branches and branchlets with close-set fascicles of very hairy lvs on petioles dilated and sheathing at base. Lamina membr., narrow-oblong, costa slender; sheathing base c. 1 mm. long; pinnate to pinnatisect, densely clad in slender silky hairs; pinnae ± 5 subopp. pairs, linear-subulate, to 1·5 mm. long. Scape rather stout, nude, 2-3 mm. long. Capitula 2.5-4 mm. diam.; receptacle conical. Phyll. in c. 2 series, broad-oblong to obovate, obtuse, ± scarious, erose, silky-hairy on outer surface. ♀ in 1 series, corolla almost filiform, 2-lipped. ♂ distinctly larger than ♀; corolla funnelform, tube long, 4-5-toothed. Achenes cylindric, turgid, glab., hardly winged.

n = 26

2n = 52

2n = 52

A very small perennial (occ. annual) herb forming loose patches or an inconspicuous low matted turf. Rhizomes at or near soil surface, slender, less than 1 mm diam., often hidden within leaves, ± villous, becoming wiry and glabrous when older; branches often difficult to discern, poorly differentiated from short shoots; leaves crowded in two rows, ± horizontal, up to 10 clustered at the apex, imbricate or older ones gradually becoming up to 4 mm apart; short shoots at most nodes, initially with a few reduced leaves in the axils of rhizome leaves, often converted into rhizomes with distant leaves. Roots abundant, slender, up to 0.5 mm diam., white. Leaves variable, 0.2-2.5 cm long; blade up to 2.0 cm long, either 1-pinnatifid, lanceolate or oblong and up to 2 mm wide or (especially in winter) simple, linear and ca. 0.5 mm wide, thin, grass-green and glabrous to silky white and densely villous; midrib not raised on ventral surface; pinnae 0 or 1-2 minute lobes or up to 6 pairs, distant, subequal, shorter than the terminal lobe, linear, narrower than the rhachis, without teeth. Peduncles very short, less than 1 mm long, nude. Monoecious. Heads almost sessile, small, 2-3 mm diam.; surface convex; involucre campanulate; phyllaries ca. 10 in 1-2 subequal rows, oblong, rather thin, green villous, with wide brown or reddish scarious margin, not growing after anthesis; pistillate florets 15-20 in 1-2 rows, ca. 2.0 mm long, straight, pale yellow and red-tipped; corolla four times as long as wide, with equal teeth; staminate florets ca. equal in number. Achenes up to 1.0 × 0.3 mm, slightly compressed, biconvex, green turning chocolate brown, unwrinkled and soft. Rowers in summer.