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Information Herbs, annual or perennial, succulent, glabrous, with caudices, not rhizomatous or stoloniferous. Roots fleshy and/or fibrous, or taproots. Stems decumbent to erect, simple or branched; nodes glabrous. Leaves basal and/or cauline, glabrous, not articulate at base, somewhat to markedly clasping, attachment points linear; basal leaves in rosettes; cauline leaves alternate (usually absent in C. umbellata and C. tweedyi). Inflorescences axillary, umbellate, paniculate, racemose, or cymose, sometimes scorpioid and/or secund, loose to dense, 1–many-flowered, leafy and/or bracteate; bracts (1–)2 subtending each flower, markedly unequal. Flowers pedicellate to subsessile; sepals persistent, distinct, not keeled or angled, often unequal, herbaceous to scarious, glabrous; petals 2–9(–12), distinct; stamens 1–23; ovules 1–many; style present or absent; stigmas 2 or 3. Capsules 2–3-valved, dehiscence loculicidal from apex, valves not deciduous, (except C. tweedyi, which has circumscissile deshiscence and 3–4 valves splitting from base), margins not reflexed after dehiscence, margins not markedly involute. Seeds 1–40, dark brownish red, dull gray, or black, usually elliptic to orbiculate, sometimes orbiculate-reniform, dull or shiny, smooth or sculptured, sometimes hairy, strophiolate in C. maritima and C. tweedyi. x = 22, 23.

Information Plants annual, roots fleshy. Stems spreading to erect, 3–18 cm. Leaves cauline, not forming basal rosette; blade linear to spatulate, ± terete, 1.5–6 cm, not glaucous. Inflorescences paniculate with umbel-like clusters, dense, usually not exceeding leaves. Flowers pedicellate; sepals ovate, slightly unequal, 2–5 mm, herbaceous, margins white-scarious; petals disarticulate in fruit, 3–5, white, 2–5 mm; stamens 5–10, anther yellow; style present; stigmas 3; pedicel 1–3 mm. Capsules ovoid, 1–4 mm; valves 3. Seeds 6–15, black, ovoid, 1–2 mm, smooth, shiny, reticulate at 30×, not white-hairy.