Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Low, branched, annual or perennial herbs, often tufted or matted.

Stems: Stems slender and wiry.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Opposite. Blades subulate to ovate. Base leaf bases often connate around the stem. Margins entire. 1- or 3–5-veined. Sessile. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers in terminal, sometimes capitate cymes, rarely solitary and axillary. Flowers bisexual (perfect), actinomorphic. Calyx of 5 sepals; sepals distinct, nearly distinct, or connate into a conspicuous tube. Corolla of 5 petals, white, occasionally rose or cream–colored, entire or sometimes slightly notched, or sometimes absent. Stamens 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; styles (2)3(-5), opposite the sepals, distinct.

Fruit: Capsules globose to oblong; splitting into as many or twice as many valves as styles. Seeds numerous; reniform or sometimes globose; smooth to tuberculate;perisperm starchy; hard or rarely soft; true endosperm absent.

Ploidy:

Habitat:

Elevation Range: