[Overview]
An annual about 40 cm tall, found in moist places such as mountain valleys, and mostly in shaded sites.
The whole plant is juicy and soft.
The lower part of the stem sometimes creeps along the ground and is often tinged with red.
Leaves are simple and opposite, rhombic-ovate, 2–5 cm long, with a tip that is not very pointed.
The upper margin of the leaf has about 5 pairs of low, triangular teeth.
There are male and female flowers, mixed together in cymes borne in the leaf axils.
The male flowers consist of 2 tepals and 2 stamens.
The female flowers have 3 tepals, of which 1–2 are about as long as the achene or slightly longer.
The fruit is an achene 0.2 cm long with brown dots.
