If using form_for consecutively, the second (and following) form tag is lost but the contents of the second form remain.
For example, given index.html.erb
<%= partial("one") %>
<%= partial("two") %>
and _one.html.erb
<% form_for(:obj, :action => "/one") do %>
<%= text_control :a %>
<% end %>
and _two.html.erb
<% form_for(:obj, :action => "/two") do %>
<%= text_control :b %>
<% end %>
This is rendered into
<form method="post" action="/one">
<input type="text" name="nil_class[a]" value="" id="nil_class_a"/>
</form>
<input type="text" name="nil_class[b]" value="" id="nil_class_b"/>
Since I couldn't find anything in merb that operates like form_for's merb form helpers, I'm assuming this is a merb form helper ticket.
I did find that explicitly niling the @_buffer first thing into a partial corrects the rendering.