Plant: Perennial < 5 dm, monoecious; sap clear or milky; stems erect

Leaves: alternate, simple, blade 3-8 cm, 1.5-5 mm wide, linear, margin few-toothed below middle, teeth ± spiny; stipules minute, petioled; blade base generally with 2 glands

INFLORESCENCE: 2-7 cm, spike, axillary or terminal; bracts glandular; glands of pistillate bracts subsessile, ± 1-1.5 mm

Flowers: Staminate flower: calyx 2-lobed; petals 0, stamens 2; nectary disk 0; Pistillate flowers 2-3 per inflorescence, crowded; petals 0; ovary 3-chambered, styles ± 2.5 mm, free, fused below, lobes 0

Fruit: capsule, 4-4.5 mm, generally 3-lobed, separating into 3 1-seeded segments; central axis persistent; Seed 2.5-3 mm, smooth; pointed; scar not appendaged

Misc: Slopes, flats, creosote-bush scrub; < 1500 m.; Apr-Jun