diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/help.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/help.py
index 47415681ec5..5db43654a8f 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/help.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/help.py
@@ -39,12 +39,19 @@
     compiler flags:
       @g{cflags="flags"}                cppflags, cflags, cxxflags,
                                     fflags, ldflags, ldlibs
+      @g{cflags=="flags"}               propagate flags to package dependencies
+                                    cppflags, cflags, cxxflags, fflags,
+                                    ldflags, ldlibs
 
     variants:
       @B{+variant}                      enable <variant>
+      @B{++variant}                     propagate enable <variant>
       @r{-variant} or @r{~variant}          disable <variant>
+      @r{--variant} or @r{~~variant}        propagate disable <variant>
       @B{variant=value}                 set non-boolean <variant> to <value>
+      @B{variant==value}                 propagate non-boolean <variant> to <value>
       @B{variant=value1,value2,value3}  set multi-value <variant> values
+      @B{variant==value1,value2,value3}  propagate multi-value <variant> values
 
     architecture variants:
       @m{platform=platform}             linux, darwin, cray, etc.
@@ -68,6 +75,8 @@
       hdf5 @c{@1.8:} @g{%gcc}               hdf5 1.8 or higher built with gcc
       hdf5 @B{+mpi}                     hdf5 with mpi enabled
       hdf5 @r{~mpi}                     hdf5 with mpi disabled
+      hdf5 @B{++mpi}                    hdf5 with mpi enabled and propagates
+      hdf5 @r{~~mpi}                    hdf5 with mpi disabled and propagates
       hdf5 @B{+mpi} ^mpich              hdf5 with mpi, using mpich
       hdf5 @B{+mpi} ^openmpi@c{@1.7}        hdf5 with mpi, using openmpi 1.7
       boxlib @B{dim=2}                  boxlib built for 2 dimensions