Annual, yellowish green, prostrate, hairy, spreading herb. Stem and branches with 3-9 mm long internodes, with short spreading hairs. Leaves opposite, sessile, hirsute, blade narrow elliptic to lanceolate or oblanceolate, usually 4-7 mm long (rarely upto 11 mm) and 1.5-2.3 mm wide, acute, margins entire with straight spreading hairs; stipules minute, membranous. Infloresence dense, leaf-opposed, cymose cluster of 6-10 flowers. Flowers green, pentamerous 1.6-2.3 mm long, sessile, perigynous zone and lower part of sepals densely covered, with short uncinate hairs. Sepals 5,free, unequal, 2 outer 1.5-2 mm long, narrow oblong, obtuse, 3 inner short, lanceolate, acute. Petals 5, free, setaceous. Stamens 2, free, opposite the two outer large sepals, anthers oblong. Style minute, bilobed, stigmas 2, divergent. Fruit ovate-ellipsoid, somewhat acute, papillose near the apex. Seed shining black, erect, obovate, testa crustaceous.

Fl. Per.: March-April.

Type: Env. Montpellier: Inter Cres and Castelnau, M. Pouzin (holo. G.-DC though without the name of collector or locality).

Distribution: West Pakistan; Afghanistan; Iran; Soviet Transcaucasia (Azer¬baijan); Iraq; Syria; Turkey; Greece; Cyperus; Palestine; Jordan; Saudi Arabia; Bahrain; Libya; Tunisia; Algeria; Morocco; Canary and Madeira Islands; Por¬tugal; Spain; France; Italy; Sicily; Malta.