Annual herb, erect often with decumbent and/or spreading branches, up to 20 cm high; indumentum of curved and straight hairs, the leaves glabrescent. Occasionally, leaf margins and alae tinged red. Leaves usually elliptic or obovate to depressed obovate, rarely very widely ovate or circular, 5–29 mm long, (2–) 4–22 (–32) mm wide; apex rounded, retuse or emarginate, rarely acute, mucro 0.3–0.4 mm long; petiole 0–2 mm long. Inflorescence supra-axillary or axillary, a solitary flower or sometimes 2–5 flowers arising separately along internode or very rarely on a short raceme to 1 mm long, not exceeding the leaves. Pedicel to 2 mm long. Alae antrorse to perpendicular in fruit (position), herbaceous, obovate, oblanceolate or ovate, dimidiate, 5–11 mm long, 2–6 mm wide, with curved and straight hairs, or straight hairs only. Corolla dark purple, with white throat; floral appendages irregularly divided, coralliformis; upper petal claw c. 1.6 mm wide. Stamens terminate at stigma, monadelphous; staminal flap not visible up to 0.7 mm wide. Style hooked (horseshoe-shaped at apex), ± terete, with flat stigma along inner surface of hook. Capsule antrorse to perpendicular, ± aligned with alae, lacking wing, ± symmetrical, widely ovate to widely oblong, 4.5–7.5 mm long, 3.5–5.5 mm wide; lobe apices rounded and separated. Seed ovoid-obloid, 3.7–5.8 mm long, 1.4–4.5 mm wide, with indumentum of fine white or ferruginous hairs over whole seed and thick clearly hollow hairs adjacent to aril head. Aril head distinctly helmet-shaped, 0.6–1.0 mm long, white to pale brown, rarely with fine short hairs. Aril appendages 3, linear, 0.35–1.25 mm long.
Found in a variety of habitats including sandstone heath, along the margins of swamps, monsoon vine forest and Allosyncarpia forest, but mostly in woodlands on sandy loam or sand.
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