Plants grayish silvery, 3-25 cm, densely sericeous. Stems mostly 1; branches proximal or none. Leaves: largest 10-18 × 2-3 mm; capitular leaves subtending glomerules only, or sometimes also hidden between and surpassed by heads. Heads proximal and distal, in spiciform or racemiform arrays, ± spheric, 1.5-2 mm, heights ± equal to diams. Receptacles ± spheric, 0.3-0.5 mm, heights ± equal to diams. Pistillate paleae scarcely imbricate, longest 0.9-1.3 mm. Bisexual paleae mostly 1-3, apices incurved, ± involute, gibbous. Functionally staminate florets usually 0. Bisexual florets 3-5; corollas protruding from heads, ± zygomorphic, 0.5-0.9 mm, glabrous, lobes unequal (1-2 enlarged). Cypselae rounded, ± terete, mostly 0.5-0.6 mm (bisexual slightly longer). 2n = 14. Flowering and fruiting late Mar-early Jun. Open, dry, deep sandy soils, oak and pine woodlands, prairies, coastal areas, sometimes disturbed sites (fields, lawns, road beds); 10-400 m; Ark., La., Okla., Tex. Diaperiacandida is the most restricted of the three species, occupying most of eastern Texas (including the coast) and extending to adjacent corners of southeastern Oklahoma, southwestern Arkansas, and northwestern Louisiana.