Annual herb up to 2 m. high, upright, rarely spreading, normally much branched, green or slightly red-tinged, mealy especially on young parts but soon sparingly so or glabrescent.. Leaves (in outline) ovate or deltoid-ovate, mostly 2.5–15 cm. long and 1.5–10 (–12) cm. wide, with more or less numerous irregular often coarse sharp teeth (7–60 or more on each margin).. Inflorescences composed of divaricately branched cymes up to 5 cm. long from upper leaf-axils and also sometimes terminal.. Flowers greenish or red-tinged, minute, about 0.8–1.5 mm. in diameter.. Sepals 5, papillose on margins and particularly towards base outside, each with a rather narrow blunt raised green keel towards apex only.. Stamens 5.. Pericarp easily scraped off seed.. Seeds (Fig. 2/4, p. 3) black, rather shining, 1.5–2 mm. in diameter, bluntly keeled; testa under microscope marked with very close minute irregularly but not radially elongate pits which are sinuose and irregularly branched.. Fig. 3.
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