Eriocaulon hamiltonianum
Annual herbs, tufted. Leaves crowded into a basal rosette, linear-lanceolate, 4–5(–6) × 0.2–0.4 (–0.5) cm, glabrous, acute or obtuse. Scapes numerous, to 12 cm long, glabrous, 4-ribbed. Sheaths to 3.5 cm long, glabrous, obtuse. Heads globose to ovoid, 3.5 × 3–4 mm, grey. Receptacle cylindrical, pilose. Involucral bracts reflexed, oblong to lanceolate, 1.5 × 0.75 mm, subacute, glabrous, chartaceous, pale brown. Floral bracts elliptic-oblanceolate, 1.5–2 × 0.8–1 mm, acute, chartaceous, glabrous, blackish brown. Male flowers: pedicellate, ca. 0.5 mm long; sepals 2, free, oblanceolate-falcate, 1 × 0.5 mm, acuminate, glabrous, black; stipe of the corolla ca. 0.5 mm long; petals 3, minute; stamens 6, anthers black. Female flowers: pedicellate, 0.25 mm long; sepals 2 or rarely 3, free, subequal, ca. 1.25 mm long, the middle one (if present) minute, linear, acuminate, glabrous, black; petals 3, subqual, linear, 0.75–1 mm long, acute, glabrous, hyaline without a black gland; stipitate between sepals and petals; ovary stalked, 3-locular, stigmas 3. Seeds ovoid-ellipsoid, 0.5 × 0.3 mm, acute or apiculate, pale yellow; cells of seed coat transversely elongate, aligned in vertical rows; cells hexagonal; appendages in the form of pair of continuous ribbon-like bands from transverse and vertical radial walls conforming to its length.
Common on sandy soils in open marshy places, paddy fields, on the borders of barren sandstone rocks, along streams, at 150–180 m altitude.