Perennial dwarf shrub forming cushion 2-4 cm. deep. Branches fleshy, close-set, rooted below, ascending at tips, ending in flat lfy rosettes 10-15 mm. across. Lvs simple, exstipulate, not opp. but in close spiral, sessile, slightly sheathing at base, 5-8 mm. long, subulate, glab., almost fleshy, entire. Many fls produced simultaneously in one rosette, each terminal on a short axillary lateral bearing two stem lvs. Fls white, 7-8 mm. diam.; "prophylls" 2 mm. long, very broadly oblong with apiculus; per. segs united at very base, spathulate, apiculate; stamens with broad filaments reaching to top of per.; style simple, bearing two hastate stigma lobes that reach halfway up per.; ovary ovoid, 2 mm. long, style 1·3 mm., ovules 5. Fr. projecting beyond the persistent prophylls, globose, c. 3 mm. diam., surmounted by apiculus formed from persistent and hardened style base (stigma lobes often long-lasting but not hardened); pericarp smooth, almost fleshy, its substance slightly mucilaginous, without clearly defined valves, ind., the seeds escaping only as the wall disintegrates. Seeds us. < 5, c. 1·5 mm. diam., slightly flattened but rounded, without keel, black and shining.
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