Herb 15–40 cm. tall; stems glabrous. Leaf-blades 1.5–5.4 cm. long, 2–8 mm. wide, acute or rather blunt, very shortly mucronate, cuneate at the base, glabrous; stipular sheath 1–3 mm. long, divided into 5–7 fimbriae (1–)1.5–3(–5) mm. long. Component parts of inflorescence subglobose, 0.5–1.5 cm. diameter, expanding in fruit to 2.5 cm.; peduncles 1.8–6 cm. long; pedicels 0.5–1 mm. long. Calyx glabrous; tube ovoid, 0.8–1 mm. long; lobes 0.8–1 mm. long. Corolla more or less white, mauve or lilac; tube 1.1–2 mm. long, often slightly longer in short-styled flowers; lobes 1.8–2 mm. 1.2–1.4(–1.8) mm. wide, obtuse, but shortly mucronulate. Stamens in short-styled form longer than the lobes, and just about level with the throat in long-styled form. Style 3.7–4 mm. long in long-styled form excluding the 0.25–0.8 mm. long branches, 1.5 mm. long in short-styled form excluding the 0.25–0.6 mm. long branches; stigmas 0.4–0.5 mm. long. Capsule 1.2–1.8 mm. tall, 1.5–2.2 mm. wide, glabrous, the beak up to 0.5 mm. tall. Seeds pale yellow-brown, sharply trigonous, ± 0.35 mm. long, reticulate. Fig. 36, p. 260.