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Herbs, annual, to 6 m. Stems erect, branched, not jointed, slender, glabrous or sparsely pilose. Leaves scattered along new growth, not clustered distally, often appressed to stem when young, sessile or subsessile; blade linear to linear-lanceolate, surfaces glabrous. Inflorescences axillary, solitary flowers or cymose clusters, sessile [shortly pedicellate]; bracts 2, [linear] lanceolate, often with tuft of white hairs. Flowers: hypanthium tubular or urceolate; calyx 4-lobed, lobes spreading; petals absent; disc minute or absent; stamens 8, included or distal whorl partially exserted, adnate to hypanthium; style slightly exserted; stigma capitate. Fruits capsular, green, becoming black, hard, enclosed by persistent hypanthium.
Annual herbs to low shrubs. Leaves alternate, adpressed-imbricate when young. Flowers bisexual or unisexual, sessile or shortly pedicellate, usually axillary, often clustered. Hypanthium narrowly urceolate, persistent or rarely deciduous. Sepals 4, persistent on tube. Corolla lobes absent. Stamens nearly always 8, in 2 alternate whorls, all included or upper whorl opposite sepals shortly exserted. Disc minute or absent. Ovary 1-locular at maturity; style terminal or becoming subterminal in fruit, short; stigma capitate or discoid, papillose. Fruit dry.
Hypanthium urceolate or tubular, persistent about the dry, indehiscent fr; sep 4; pet none; stamens 8, included; style slightly eccentric; lvs small, sessile; most spp. dioecious or polygamous evergreen shrubs, but ours an annual herb with perfect fls. 20, Medit., temp. Asia.
