Rotala gossweileri Koehne

Amphibious or terrestrial annual or perennial herb; stems often pink, subsucculent, erect or creeping, 3–20(–30) cm. long, simple or sparsely branched, rooting at nodes.. Leaves often tinged reddish, narrowly elliptic to almost round, 2–6 mm. long, 1–4.5 mm. wide, obtuse at the apex, ± narrowed to subcordate at the base, decussate, ± sessile.. Flowers reddish or greenish, 4(–5)-merous, solitary in the axils, sessile; bracteoles linear-lanceolate to capillary, 0.5–0.7 mm. long.. Calyx-tube campanulate, ± 1 mm. long; lobes red, 4(–5), triangular, ± 1 mm. long, 2 opposite lobes slightly wider at base than other pair or 1 wide, 1 narrow and 2 intermediate; appendages absent (Fernandes says very short or absent for R. minuta); interjected folds distinct at anthesis.. Petals absent.. Stamens (1–)2 (–3); filaments 1 mm. long, not exserted.. Ovary red, subglobose, 0.75 mm. long; style 0.25–0.5 mm. long; stigma capitate.. Capsule ± globose, 1–1.5 mm. long, 3-valved, scarcely or not exceeding the calyx.. Seeds brownish (said to have bright red marks, Norman 150), subglobose or obovoid, concavo-convex, 0.3–0.5 mm. long.. Fig. 15/28–31, p. 53.