Herbs, perennial, with woody taproot. Stems fascicled, erect, branching throughout, 1.5–6(–9) dm. Leaves alternate; stipules linear-lanceolate, 0.5–1 mm; petiole absent; blade linear, (1–)2–3(–3.5) × 0.1–0.2(–0.3) cm, base acute, margins entire or remotely minutely denticulate, teeth without prominent blackened tips, not incurved, apex acute; venation not prominent. Inflorescences sessile or short-pedunculate, (1.5–)2–4.5(–7) cm, staminate flowers widely spaced, 1 per node; pistillate flowers 3–7, widely spaced; bracts deltate to broadly ovate, to 2 mm, apex acuminate, glands cyathiform, long-stalked, to 1 mm diam. Staminate flowers: calyx to 1 mm. Pistillate flowers: sepals 0; styles connate only at base, 1.5–-2 mm. Capsules globose-ovoid, 2–2.5 × 3–3.5 mm, deeply 3-lobed; lobes of gynobase 1–1.5 mm; columella sometimes persistent. Seeds gray or gray-brown, globose, 2–2.5 × 1.5 mm, smooth; caruncle absent. 2n = 22.
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