Tetragonia echinata Aiton

Annual herb, up to 0.4 m high; prostrate, slightly succulent, raised decumbent lines from leaf base, papillose. Leaves petiolate, oval, rhombic or deltoid, occasionally almost orbicular. Flowers 2-4 per cyme, subsessile; pedicles very short. Perianth 3-5-lobed, densely papillose, erect, triangular. Stamens 3-5, alternate with perianth but occasionally paired; anthers oval. Styles 3. Ovary inferior, densely papillose, with 3-5 obtuse projections opposite perianth. Fruit 3-5 projecting ridges with spiny outgrowths, rounded or truncate at top, papillose.