Alsine prostrata Forsskål, Fl. Aegypt.-Arab. 207. 1775; Loeflingia indica Retzius; Pharnaceum depressum Linnaeus; Polycarpon indicum (Retzius) E. D. Merrill; P. loeflingii Wight & Arnott ex Bentham.

Plants annual. Stems prostrate or ascending, ± woody at base, 10--25 cm, pubescent or glabrous. Leaf blade obovate or spatulate, 5--15(--25) × 1.5--2.5(--5) mm, glabrous, base attenuate, apex acute. Cymes often axillary, sometimes rather lax, 2--4 cm; bracts stipulelike. Pedicel short or absent, pilose. Sepals lanceolate, 2.5--3(--4) mm, apex obtuse, ± hooded. Petals often fewer than 5, oblong, less than 1/2 as long as sepals, entire. Stamens 3(--5), shorter than sepals. Capsule ovoid, shorter than sepals. Seed light brown, cylindric, with raised lateral hylum, reticulate, ca. 0.5 mm. Fl. Feb--May, fr. May--Jun.

On open sands, farmlands; 300--1500 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan [tropical regions of Asia and Africa].