Rootstock thick; stems ascending to erect, unbranched, sometimes wavy, smooth, without hairs, 4 to 14 inches tall; stems have milky juice.
Stems ascending to erect; stem leaves oblong to round, widest above middle, flower leaves wider than long; 5 clusters of male flowers surround 1 female flower; glands with rounded teeth on margins, without petal-like appendages and slightly 2-horned.
Habitat
Dry slopes, flats, canyons, open pine-oak forests, roadsides, fields, and clearings.
Flower Characteristics
Yellow bracts join to form tiny cup (involucre); 5 clusters of male flowers surround 1 female flower with 3 ovary chambers, 1 seed per chamber, 3 styles, divided; glands with rounded teeth on margins, without petal-like appendages, slightly 2-horned.
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Light green, generally alternate, fleshy, numerous; oblong to round, wider than long, to 3/8 inch wide and 1/4 inch long; margins smooth, tip pointed to rounded.
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Capsules egg-shaped and about 1/4 inch long.
Seeds ashy (gray), oblong and about 1/8 inch long, with a brown caruncle (appendage at attachment of seed), which is easily removed; surface net-like; irregularly pitted.