Perennial herb often much branched at the base with glabrous or puberulous weakly erect or straggling stems 30–50 cm. tall.. Leaf-blades linear, oblong or very narrowly elliptic, 1–3.5 cm. long, 1.5–5.5 mm. wide, acute at the apex, cuneate at the base, glabrous or sparsely puberulous; petioles not developed; stipule-sheath 1–2 mm., divided into 3–5 fimbriae up to 2–2.5 mm. long.. Flowers heterostylous, in 2–4(–7)-flowered glomerules, as many as 8 arranged in spicate fashion, the “spikes” either terminal or axillary up to 8 cm. long; when terminal they are arranged dichasially, the centre terminal part either a “spike” or a solitary flower overtopped by long lateral “spikes” (the “spikes” are really a series of nodes bearing few flowers from which the leaves have disappeared); pedicels 0–4 mm. long.. Calyx-tube subglobose, 0.8 mm. long and wide, glabrous or puberulous; lobes ovate-triangular to narrowly triangular, 0.8–1 mm. long, glabrous or with margins and midvein ciliate.. Corolla white or with lobes tinged pink beneath at the apex; tube 1.5 mm. long, hairy inside; lobes elliptic-oblong, 1.3–1.5 mm. long, papillate inside.. Style 0.8 mm. long in short-styled flowers, 3 mm. long in long-styled flowers; stigma-lobes filiform, 0.5 mm. long.. Capsule depressed subglobose, 1.2 mm. tall, 1.8–2 mm. wide, glabrous or puberulous, the beak slightly raised, ± 0.2 mm. tall.. Seeds dark purplish brown, almost round or elliptic in outline, ± 0.3 mm. long, raised on the hilar side, flat on the other side.
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