Plants annual [sometimes bien-nial], glabrous or nearly so, with fusiform, vertical rootstock. Stems erect, branched above middle or in distal 2/ 3, 20-40(-70) cm. Leaves: ocrea deciduous or partially persistent at maturity; blade distinctly obovate or sometimes panduriform, 4-6(-7) × 2-4(-5) cm, less than 4 times as long as wide, coriaceous, base cuneate or truncate, margins entire, flat or crisped, apex obtuse. Inflorescences terminal, occupying distal 2 of stem, usually lax, occasionally rather dense in distalmost part, interrupted in basal 1/ 2, broadly paniculate, branches spreading. Pedicels articulated in proximal 1/ 3, filiform or indistinctly thickened, 2.5-6 mm, articulation distinctly swollen. Flowers 10-20 in rather dense whorls; inner tepals obovate-triangular to deltoid, 3-4 × 1.8-2.5 mm (excluding teeth), ca. 1.5 times as long as wide, base truncate, margins distinctly dentate, apex acute to subacute, straight, teeth 2-3(-4), normally at each side of margins, triangular, straight, 0.4-1.5 mm, equaling or shorter than width of inner tepals; tubercles usually 3, equal or subequal, apex acute or subacute, smooth or minutely punctate. Achenes reddish brown, 1.7-1.9(-2) × 1-1.4 mm.
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A herb. It grows each year from seeds.
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