Herbs annual. Stems prostrate, ascending, or erect, 10-40 cm tall, much branched from base. Petiole short or nearly absent, articulate at base; leaf blade lanceolate or narrowly elliptic, 1-4 cm × 3-12 mm, both surfaces glabrous, midvein and lateral veins conspicuous, base cuneate, margin entire, apex acute or nearly obtuse; ocrea: lower part brown, upper part white or throughout brown, membranous, veined, apex lacerate. Flowers 1-5; axillary; bracts thinly membranous. Pedicel slender, articulate at apex. Perianth green, margin white or pinkish, 5-cleft to 2/3-3/4; tepals elliptic, 2-2.5 mm. Stamens 8; filaments dilated at base. Styles 3, free, short; stigmas capitate. Achenes included or slightly exceeding persistent perianth, black-brown, opaque, ovoid, trigonous, 2.5-3 mm, minutely granular striate. Fl. May-Jul, fr. Jul-Aug. 2n = 40, 60.

Near fields, roadsides, waste places; sea level to 4200 m. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [widely distributed in N temperate zone; widely naturalized in S temperate zone].