Stems erect or lie along ground, tips curving upward, branched; leaves narrow to lance-like; petals to 1/8 inch, white, fade to pink or red; sepals <1/8 inch; stigmas surrounded by anthers; fruit capsules rounded to flattened, constricted between seeds.
Annual, simple to sparsely branched with a central stem; leaves alternate, narrow, reduced up the stem; flowers white, fade to pink or red, petals 4, stigma head-like, 8 stamens, 4 smaller; seeds in 1 row, >9, not overlapping; fruit knobby, cylindrical.
Habitat
Sandy or gravely soil, in pinyon-juniper woodlands and pine forests, mountains bordering desert areas.
Flower Characteristics
Flowers in upper leaf axils; stigma head-like, surrounded by anthers; petals 4; sepals 4, bend downward.
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Somewhat reduced going up the stem; short stemmed; leaf blade narrowly lance-like to narrow; about 1 inch long.
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
To 1/4 inch long, stemmed, cylindrical, slightly knobby, erect.
10 to 25 seeds form 2 rows in each capsule, light brown mottled with dark brown.