Small hemispherical shrub, 30-100 cm, dark green, glabrous, drying black. Stem up to 15 mm thick; woody branches erect or ascending, the upper spreading; annual shoots except for the innovation shoots richly branched from base, with spreading or evenly recurved branches, each producing a loose, often flexuose spike. Leaves alternate, the lowermost + opposite, ascending to spreading, on first order axes 5-15(20) x 1-1.5(2) mm, semi-terete or terete, cylindric to clavate; leaf axils with dense tufts of curled hairs, later often with smaller, obconical, rosulate leaves. Bracts obconical, obpyriform or dumb-bell-shaped, 2-4 x 1.5-3 mm, bract axils with 3-5 clustered flowers, 2 bracteoles of 1st order and 4(6) much, smaller bracteoles of higher order, immersed in dense wool of 0.5-0.8 mm long curled hairs. Tepals cucullate, almost circular, 1.2-1.5 mm long, all 1-veined or the outer 2(3)-veined, without distinct midrib in upper part, apex rounded, crenulate, emarginate or variously lobed, green blotch broadly triangular, transverse line at 1/2. Anthers 0.5-0.7 mm long including the minute appendage; filaments almost linear, 1.2-1.5 mm long, at base 0.3 mm wide; interstaminal disc lobes much longer than wide, 0.5-0.6 mm long, densely papillose. Style 0.4-0.5 mm long; stigmas 2(3), flat, 0.3-0.6 mm long, densely covered with short papillae. Fruiting perianth 5-9 mm diam., wings scarcely overlapping; tepals above the wings evenly incurved or almost straight, leaving the utricle fully or partly exposed; tepals below the wings scarcely hardened, forming a bowl-shaped cup, base flat, with 5 shallow grooves. Utricle horizontal, 1.5-2.5 mm diam.