Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Small annual herbs from a slender taproot, without a basal rosette of leaves or, if present, then quickly deciduous.

Stems: Stems capillary, erect, ascending, or occasionally decumbent, 4–17 cm long, unbranched or branched, often swollen at the nodes.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Opposite. Lower blades linear, often spreading and somewhat recurved, 5–23 mm long, ca. 0.4–0.5 mm wide; upper leaves linear, becoming subulate toward apex of stem, 1.5–5 mm long. Apex apiculate. Base sessile, often connate around the stem. Surfaces glabrous. Margins hyaline. 1-veined. Petioles absent. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers solitary and terminal on the branches or few in cymes. Flowers bisexual (perfect), actinomorphic.Pedicels filiform, 15–25 mm long in fruit, glabrous or sparsely glandular puberulent. Calyx of (4)5 sepals; sepals distinct, nearly distinct, or connate into a conspicuous tube, ovate to orbicular, (1.5–)1.7– 2(–2.5) mm long, often sparsely glandular puberulent, margins scarious. Corolla of (0–)5 petals; petals elliptic, nearly as long as sepals, caducous. Stamens 5 or 10; distinct or adnate to petals at base to form a short tube, which may be adnate to the gynophore or sometimes adnate to lower part of calyx, petaloid staminodes sometimes present; anthers dithecal, opening by longitudinal slits. Ovary superior, 1-celled; ovules numerous, campylotropous or sometimes hemitropous; styles as many as and alternate with the sepals.

Fruit: Capsules globose; (2–)2.5–3(–3.5) mm long; the valves recurved at apex after dehiscence. Seeds numerous; pale brown; obliquely triangular; 0.3–0.4 mm long; the surface smooth to slightly pebbled; with a dorsal groove; perisperm starchy; hard or rarely soft; true endosperm absent.

Ploidy: 2n = 36

Habitat:

Elevation Range: