a small plant (annual?), 2–4 in. high, branched from the base, with a long tapering taproot; branches slender, minutely puberulous; leaves ovate-elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate, subacute, rounded at the base, 2–2 1/2 lin. long, 1 1/4–1 1/2 lin. broad, dull and very slightly scaberulous on both surfaces, with one or two indistinct pairs of lateral nerves; petiole 1/3 lin. long; stipules subulate, very acute, 1/2 lin. long, glabrous; flowers monœcious, solitary, the males in the upper part, the females in the lower part of each branchlet; male flowers: pedicel 1/2 lin. long, glabrous; sepals 5, broadly ovate, obtuse, with a distinct midrib and membranous margin; disc-glands flat and thin; more or less transversely oblong, smooth; stamens 5; filaments free; anthers dehiscing at the side, with the line of dehiscence continuous between the cells; female flowers: pedicel 3/4 lin. long, rather stout, glabrous; sepals 5, ovate, obtuse, 2/3 lin. long, 1/2 lin. broad, with a broad midrib and membranous margin, glabrous; disc saucer-shaped, thin, quite entire, glabrous; ovary lobed, smooth; styles short, spreading over the top of the ovary, shortly bilobed, not swollen at the tips; capsule trilobed, depressed, 1 3/4 lin. in diam., smooth and shining; seeds finely and densely pitted on the back. null
