Herbs, perennial, cespitose, erect to ascending. Roots glabrous to sparsely puberulent. Stems (4--)15--25(--40) cm. Leaves ascending; basal leaf sheaths glabrous to pilose or puberulent; blade linear, 4--17 ´ 0.1--0.5 mm (distal leaf blades much narrower than sheaths when sheaths opened, flattened). Inflorescences: bracts often elongate, sometimes minute, 2--14 mm, if elongate ± herbaceous, if minute scarious. Flowers pedicellate; pedicels (0.7--)1.2--2 cm; petals pink to rose, 8--10 mm; filaments bearded. Capsules 2--3.5 mm. Seeds 1.5--2 mm. n = 6, 12, 18.

Flowering spring--fall. Sandy soil in pine-oak woods (especially longleaf pine and turkey oak) and pine barrens, often on sandhills, occasionally in thickets, old fields and roadsides; Fla., Ga., N.C., S.C., Va.

I have not been able to confirm the record of this species from Maryland in M. L. Brown and R. G. Brown (1984).