Greenish but often turning blackish when drying, long-hairy annual, 15-30 cm.. Stems erect or ascending, simple or branched at base. Leaves 0.5-1.5 (-2) x 0.3-0.8 cm., sessile, linear to oblong-lanceolate and elliptical, tapering at base, more or less acute, densely hairy. Bracts linear, short but exceeding flowers. Flowers 2-2.5 mm., arranged in clusters of 2-3 (-4), forming short, more or less dense, leafy inflorescences. Perianth hairy, somewhat accrescent in fruit; segments connate to ¾ their length, with an appendage or wing arising from upper third of each lobe. Seeds about 2 mm.; embryo vertical. Fl. May-September.