Rounded annual or short-lived perennial herb to 30 cm high, monoecious. Leaves thin with scaly sheen on each side, very narrowly oblong to oblanceolate, 1.5–5 cm long, acute to obtuse, entire or remotely dentate, narrowed at base to an indefinite petiole. Flowers in clusters, axillary and spicate, the glomerules well separated, terminal glomerules mixed male and female, the lower ones female. Fruiting bracteoles sessile, 5–10 mm long; upper half free, flat, 3-lobed, central lobe very narrowly oblong, acute, 3–5 mm long, lateral lobes erect, slender, acute, c. 1 mm long; basal half fused and covered on each side by a swollen inverted U-shaped appendage, spiny or entire. Seed circular; radicle lateral, erect.
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