Conopholis Wallr.

Herbs, low, glabrous to densely glandular-pubescent, cream, yellow-brown, brown, or black, simple or rarely branched, fleshy at first but becoming brittle, the flowering stems arising from a dark brown to black base. Leaves scale-like, sessile, with invisible to plainly evident veins, fleshy at first but becoming brittle, of 2 types, the lower tightly imbricate, short, and wide, the upper larger and scattered to somewhat imbricate. Inflorescences compact racemes. Flowers axillary to a sessile bract, the pedicels short to elongate, the bracts longer than the calyx; calyx tubular, 2-lipped, split anteriorly, 2-or 4-5-toothed or-lobed, the divisions broadly to narrowly acute or rounded, 1 or 2 subulate bractlets may arise on the base of the calyx, or these may be absent; corolla cream-colored, tubular, sometimes reflexed apically, 2-lipped, the upper lip rounded, notched, rarely 3-or 4-lobed, external in the bud, the lower lip (1-2-) 3-lobed, the lobes rounded to acute; the corolla somewhat persistant, eventually ruptured and dislodged by the enlarging capsule; stamens 4(-5), the lateral 2 sometimes connate, epipe-talous, inserted above the ovary, the filaments elongate, the anthers free, ex-serted, the locules somewhat divergent, basally attenuate, glabrous to sparingly pilose; style apically reflexed, included or exserted, persistent on or deciduous from the fruit, the stigma capitate, slightly depressed, centrally to horizontally furrowed. Fruit a 2-valved, 1-loculed, dull dark brown to black capsule dehiscing irregularly or anteroposteriorly; seeds oval, triangular, quadrangular, or rhom-boidal with rounded or, less often, sharp angles, light to dark brown, with brown to black reticulate lines.