A minutely puberulous, nearly glabrescent, wiry herb; rootstock thick, woody, polycephalous; stems prostrate, whip-like, branched, with the habit of an Equisetum, slender; branches alternate, angular; leaves comparatively few, subulate, acute, sessile, somewhat decurrent, opposite or alternate, 1/20 to 1/10 in. long; flowers terminal, bracteate at the base, solitary, 1/12 to 1/10 in. long, greenish; free portion of the perianth persistent, about 1/20 to 1/15 in. long, shortly cylindrical, deeply 5-lobed; the segments lanceolate, not bearded inside, obtuse, the tips and sides narrowly inflected; anthers shortly oblong, included; style included, exceeding the stamens; bracts subulate, 1/20 to 1/15 in. long; lower portion of the fruit 1/10 in. long by 1/12 in. in diameter, ribbed, the ribs jointed with oblique venation.
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