Herbs, perennial, with woody caudex, dioecious or monoecious, often staminate and pistillate flowers on separate branchlets, 0.5–3 dm; branching phyllanthoid. Stems: main stems and ultimate branchlets terete, not winged, usually glabrous, rarely scabridulous. Leaves on main stems spiral, scalelike; stipules auriculate, dark brown. Leaves on ultimate branchlets distichous, well developed; stipules not auriculate, pale brown to brown; blade elliptic or obovate to suborbiculate, 2–8 × 1–5 mm, base acute to rounded, apex obtuse to rounded and apiculate, both surfaces glabrous or abaxial scabridulous. Inflorescences cymules or flowers solitary, unisexual, staminate distributed along branchlet, with (10–)15–20 flowers, pistillate distributed along branchlet or distal, with 1 flower. Pedicels: staminate 0.3–0.8 mm, pistillate spreading in fruit, (1–)1.2–1.8(–2.1) mm. Staminate flowers: sepals 5, pale yellow to white, flat, 0.7–0.8 mm; nectary extrastaminal, 5 glands; stamens 2, filaments connate 2/3 length. Pistillate flowers: sepals 5, green with broad white margins, flat, (0.7–)0.9–1.2 mm, obscurely veined; nectary annular, 5-lobed. Capsules 1.7–1.9 mm diam., smooth. Seeds uniformly brown, 0.8–0.9 mm, longitudinally ribbed. 2n = 52.
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