suffruticose, glabrate except the inflorescence, often 2 ft. high, branched below; branches terete, rather slender, glabrous; leaves opposite or fasciculate, reaching 2 in. long, scarcely more than 1 lin. broad, sessile, linear, shortly mucronate, glabrous; flowers in dense, usually obtuse spikes 2–3 in. long, 1/2 lin. broad, the partial inflorescences consisting of 2–4 fertile and 1–2 sterile flowers, each of the latter reduced to a pair of silky-hairy hard sharp terete yellow shortly stalked spines reaching 2 1/2 lin. long; bracteoles broadly ovate, membranous, silky-hairy, the midrib produced into a strong terete prominent spine; perianth 3 lin. long; sepals 5, the 2 outer the largest, oblong-lanceolate, aristate, silky-hairy, the 3 inner oblong-lanceolate, subobtuse, not aristate; stamens 1 1/4 lin. long; anthers rather more than 1/4 lin. long; ovary subglobose, 1 lin. across, slightly flattened, furnished with a horn at one side, silky-villous; style reaching 1 lin. long, slender; stigma small, capitate; seed doubled on itself, the folded seed 1 lin. in diam., orbicular, compressed, red. null
