Plant: Perennial; stem prostrate to ascending, glabrous to hairy; sap milky

Leaves: cauline, opposite, short-petioled, 1-10 mm; stipules separate, triangular; blade round to ovate, glabrous to hairy, tip acute to obtuse, margin entire

INFLORESCENCE: flower-like, generally 1 per node; involucre 1-1.5 mm, bell-shaped, glabrous to hairy; gland < 1 mm, oblong, appendage wider to narrower than gland, entire to scalloped, white to red

Flowers: Staminate flowers 15-32, generally in 5 clusters around pistillate flower, each flower a stamen; Pistillate flower: 1, central, stalked; ovary chambers 3, ovule 1 per chamber, styles 3, divided > 1/2 length

Fruit: capsule, 1-1.5 mm, spheric, lobed, glabrous to hairy; Seed 1-1.5 mm, ovoid, smooth, white to light brown

Misc: Dry, sandy slopes and flats; < 1000 m.; Most of year

Notes: Flowers borne in a cyanthia; 15-30 staminate and one pistallate. 4 petolid appendages, white with large pink or red glands.Seeds quadrangular in shape and whitish. Leaves can be reddish.

References: Kearney & Peebles; Arizona Flora. ASU specimans