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Stem 6-38 cm. long, either erect or ascending and simple, rooting at lower nodes or at most nodes except for the apical ones, or stem widely trailing and rooting at nodes and emitting short, erect branches throughout, these simple or with 1-2 branchlets towards the apex, fleshy, somewhat thick but flaccid, green, mauve or purplish at the nodes; internodes up to 3·8 cm. long, the basal and median ones longer than the leaves, the uppermost equalling them or shorter.
Leaves 5·5-20 x 1-5 mm., linear or oblong to oblong spathulate, acute to obtuse, sessile and connate at the base in a hyaline or purplish, 1-2 mm. long sheath, erect or erect-spreading but the undermost patent or slightly reflexed, fleshy, somewhat thick and rigid or nearly membranous on drying, light green, neither lineolate nor punctate near the margin.
Seeds 1-2(4) per follicle, c. 0·5 to 1 mm. long, narrowly oblong, obtuse at the base and apex, minutely and densely tuberculate, the tubercules in longitudinal rows.
Petals 1-1·75 mm. long, oblong or oblong-obovate, rounded at the apex, white, sometimes with carmine-red midrib or completely pinkish-white to carmine.
Flowers 4-merous, axillary, solitary or sometimes 2-3 together; pedicels 2-7 mm. long in flower, up to 12 mm. long in fruit, slender.
Follicles 1-1·25 mm., obovoid, rounded at the top, contracted into the style, carmine; styles c. 0·5 mm. long, reflexed.
Calyx 0·75-1·25 mm. long, green or yellow-green; sepals oblong, subacute to rounded at the apex, connate at the base.
Filaments 0·5-0·75 mm. long, carmine-red; anthers 0-15-0-25 mm. — long, transversely ovate or subcircular, purplish.
Aquatic or terrestrial completely glabrous herb, varying in habit according to habitat.
Scales 0·5-0·75 mm. long, spathulate, truncate at the apex, purplish-hyaline.
