Herbs, perennial, caespitose, procumbent or erect, 5-15 cm tall. Stems numerous from reddish rhizomes and roots, usually strongly branched, 4-angled, densely retrorsely strigose hairy, hispidulous at nodes. Leaves in whorls of 4, sessile or subsessile; blade drying subleathery, quite variable in shape, ovate to oblong or lanceolate, (2.5-)4-10(-14) × (0.6-) 1-3(-4.5) mm, sometimes with scattered hairs adaxially, on margins and on midrib abaxially, or mostly glabrescent, adaxially slightly shiny and papillose, abaxially matte and usually minutely glandular-punctate or-striate, base cuneate, margins revolute, apex acute or subobtuse; principal vein 1, lateral veins 2, weak. Inflorescences terminal and in axils of upper leaves, with few-to several-flowered and up to 2 cm long cymes; peduncles ± hairy, bracteate, ± divaricate in fruit; pedicels 1-2(-5) mm. Flowers usually sexually differentiated (dioecious or polygamo-dioecious?). Ovary obovoid, ca. 0.8 mm, with ± curved trichomes. Corolla yellowish, greenish, or ± brownish-reddish, rotate, 1.8-2.7 mm in diam.; lobes 4, ovate, obtuse or slightly acute. Mericarps reniform, 1.5-2 mm, mostly with ± uncinate trichomes of ca. 0.3 mm (very rarely also glabrous?), on straight or ± curved, up to 4 mm long pedicels. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Aug-Sep.
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