Eriocaulon nantoense Hayata var. parviceps (Handel-Mazzetti) W. L. Ma; E. nantoense var. trisectum (Satake) C. E. Chang; E. pullum T. Koyama; E. schochianum Handel-Mazzetti var. parviceps Handel-Mazzetti; E. senile Honda; E. trisectum Satake.

Stem 2--6 cm. Leaves linear, 4--8(--11) cm, 2--5 mm wide at middle, veins 12--28. Scapes 5--15, 12--25 cm, 4--7-ribbed; sheath 3--6 cm; receptacle subglabrous; heads dusky to blackish, subglobose, ca. 5 mm in diam.; involucral bracts reflexed, straw-colored or sometimes blackish, obovate, 2--2.7 × 1.5--2 mm, membranous, glabrous; floral bracts blackish, obovate to oblanceolate, adaxially hairy at margin and apex, abaxially hairy toward apex. Male flowers: sepals 3, spathelike, 1.5--2 mm, abaxially white clavate hairy toward 3-lobed to 3-cleft apex; petals 3, oblong, anterior one slightly longer than others, white clavate hairy, gland black; stamens 6, anthers black. Female flowers: sepals 3, blackish, free, boatlike, 1.5--2 mm, hairy along midvein and at margin, posterior one reduced or absent; petals 3, oblanceolate-linear, posterior one longer than others, membranous, hairy at margin and adaxially toward sometimes emarginate apex, gland borne on 1--3 petals, black or brown; ovary 3-loculed; style 3-cleft. Seeds narrowly ovoid, 0.5--0.6 mm; testa hexagonally reticulate, prickles 1--4 per cell, linear. Fl. and fr. Apr--Oct.

Swamps, ponds, marshlands; near sea level to 2500 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Japan, Nepal].