Plant: Annual or perennial herb < 10 dm, monoecious; sap clear or milky; stems erect

Leaves: alternate, simple; blade generally 2-4 cm, 5-12 mm wide, elliptic to ovate, margin sharply toothed; stipules minute, petioled; blade base generally with 2 glands

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

Flowers: Staminate flower: calyx 2-lobed; petals 0, stamens 2; nectary disk 0; Pistillate flowers 1-2 per inflorescence, ± open; ovary 3-chambered, styles 3-3.5 mm, free, fused below, lobes 0

Fruit: capsule, 4-5 mm, generally 3-lobed, separating into 3 1-seeded segments; central axis persistent; Seed 3-3.5 mm, striate, minutely roughened, pointed; scar not appendaged

Misc: Sandy soils, dunes, creosote-bush scrub; < 900 m; Mar-May