stem much-branched, erect, finely scabrous; leaves opposite and alternate, linear, acuminate, subspinous, rigid, subdenticulate; peduncles dichotomous, divaricate, disposed in a terminal racemose-panicle; bracts a little shorter than the pedicels; calyx glabrous, with very short 5-gonous tube; lobes reflexed, spreading, rigid, cuspidate, as long as the tube; corolla tubulose, 5-lobed at the apex, 6–8 times longer than the calyx; capsule minute, 5-angular. Perennial, rigid, 3–4 inches high. Leaves approximate on the lower part of the stem and branches. Leaves 2–3 lines long, 1/2 line wide. Pedicels rigid, 3–4 times longer than the calyx, spinelike after the capsules have fallen. Corolla 3 lines long, with linear lobes, white. Capsule hemispherical, not 1 line long, 5-celled, rarely 3-celled; valves as long as the base of the capsule.
