[Greek aphanes, obscure or inconspicuous]

Leila M. Shultz

Herbs, annual, glabrous. Stems prostrate, decumbent, ascending and stout or slender and flexuous, simple or sparsely branched, not jointed or armed, succulent. Leaves alternate, sessile or petiolate; blade not fleshy, margins entire; proximal spatulate, oblanceolate, or oblong, apex obtuse or acute; distal ovate-oblong to cordate-oblong, base clasping. Inflorescences axillary, sessile, 1-5-flowered. Flowers bisexual; perianth 3(-5)-lobed, herbaceous; stigmas 3; stamen 1. Fruiting structures: utricle globose, exceeding perianth at maturity; pericarp free from seed, green, membranous, dehiscence circumscissile. Seeds horizontal, lenticular; seed coat black, rugose-punctate; embryo incompletely annular, perisperm copious. [No chromosome count available.]

Species 1: California, nw Mexico.

Lower Taxon

• Aphanisma blitoides Nuttall ex Moquin-Tandon