Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Gynodioecious, sprawling perennial herbs, becoming woody toward base.

Stems: Stems often swollen at the nodes, terete (cylindrical), 4–angled or 4–ridged, 1.5–5 dm long, multi–stemmed from the base, forming dense tangled clumps, the primary stems many-branched, weakly ascending to sprawling, internodes (1.4–) 2.5–5 (–5.7) cm long, green or purple–tinged, glabrous below, puberulent, usually densely so, on the upper stems and inflorescence.

Roots: Fibrous root system.

Leaves: Leaves simple. Opposite. Blades linear or linear–elliptic, falcate, 3–5 (–7) cm long, 0.15–0.5 cm wide. Apex attenuate and often slightly curved. Base leaf bases often connate around the stem. gradually tapering to base. Blades usually spreading or reflexed, thin and membranous. Margins slightly revolute, especially toward the base. 1 or 3 principal veins, the midvein excentric, sparsely to moderately puberulent, especially along adaxial vein and near the margins, the hairs 0.05–0.1 (–0.2) mm long, spreading to nearly erect, the hairs white–opaque, at least some of the hairs gland–tipped. Petiolate, weakly to conspicuously connate around the stem. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers in inflorescence terminal, with 13–35 flowers, 8–12 cm long, laterally contracted, lateral branches short, the branches and pedicels ascending to somewhat spreading, moderately puberulent with hairs like those of the leaves, the hairs retrorsely appressed, spreading to erect; bracts green, linear to subulate, those of central axis 5–35 mm long, those of branches and flowers 1–1.5 mm long; pedicels 3–6 mm long, slender, inconspicuously flattened. Flowers bisexual (perfect) or pistillate. Calyx of hermaphroditic flowers with sepals 2.8–3.5 mm long, narrowly ovate, green or tinged purple toward the apex, opaque, strongly reflexed and convex at the base, producing a small transverse bulge, the distal part concave, deeply navicular in the distal ½, often inrolled at the apex, oriented at 70° to 80° angle to the pedicel, moderately puberulent, the hairs 0.05–0.25 mm long, some of them gland–tipped, margins conspicuously scarious, weakly lacerate, ciliate at the base, apex obtuse. Pistillate flowers: Sepals 2.1–2.8 mm long, narrowly ovate, green or tinged purple toward the apex, opaque, strongly reflexed and convex at the base, producing a small transverse bulge, the distal part concave, broadly and deeply navicular in the distal ½, often involute at the apex, oriented at 70° to 80° angle to the pedicel, moderately puberulent, the hairs 0.05–0.25 mm long, some of them gland–tipped, margins conspicuously scarious, ciliate at the base, apex obtuse. Corolla (petals) absent. Stamens 10 (hermaphroditic flowers); filaments subequal, 3.4–4.1 mm long; anthers 0.75–0.9 mm long, yellow. Pistillate flowers: Stamens 10, vestigial, the filaments subequal, 0.4–0.9 mm long; anthers ca. 0.25 mm long, yellow, not producing pollen. Ovary superior, 1-celled; ovule placentation free-central; styles 3 (–4).

Fruit: Capsules 2.3–2.7 mm long; narrowly ovoid. Seeds 0.6–0.8 mm long; orbicular–reniform; compressed; the surface transversely rugose; perisperm starchy; hard or rarely soft; true endosperm absent.

Ploidy: 2n = 55*–60*

Habitat: On steep rocky cliffs and ledges; dry forest and shrubland.

Elevation Range: 500–1000 m.