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Low, spreading, dense, much-branched, dioecious subshrub, densely covered with silvery grey scales, with main stems often slightly horizontal and rather slender. Shoots strongly angular, with scattered glandular hairs. Lvs subsessile, 1-2.7 × 2-4 mm, linear or oblong-linear, entire; base attenuate; apex obtuse or nearly so. ♂ fls in continuous or interrupted terminal spikes or panicles. ♀ fls solitary or few in axillary clusters, monomorphic; bracteoles united for c. ⅓ length, to 3.5 × 3.5 mm at fruiting, often smaller, broad-ovate to rhombic, entire; united part becoming indurate; free parts becoming ± swollen, spongy; apex obtuse. Seed c. 2 mm diam., circular, with radicles protruding.
A dense small shrub. It grows 60-90 cm high. It can be 2 m high. It can spread 1.8-6 m wide. Stems can form roots at the nodes. The leaves are pale grey-blue. The leaves are 2.5-4 cm long and have a blunt tip. Male and female plants occur on separate plants. Male flowers are lumpy brown spikes at the tips of plants. Female flowers are single or in small clusters in the axils of leaves. Female plants produce clusters of small grey pods. The pods are 6-10 mm long. They are triangle shaped.
Perennial, monoecious or dioecious shrub, 1-5 m high, grey-to white-squamous (scaly). Leaves 10-80 x 5-30 mm, alternate, elliptic-ovate to linear-lanceolate, mostly entire, leathery. Male and female flowers mixed in terminal, pyramidal panicles. Fruiting bracts 4-15 x 4-11 mm, deltoid-elliptic to spathulate, fused up to broadest part, entire or slightly toothed, glabrous or hump-tubercled on back (under side), ± completely spongy, at length hardening.
