Annual, 10-30 cm high, with distinct reddish juice, the colour often preserved in dried specimens. Stem shorter than the prostrate or ascending, straight, rigid lateral branches, irregulary divaricate, in upper part with loosely arranged lateral spikes; long hairs in lower part stiff or slightly curved, to 3 mm long, warty, giving young plants a whitish colour, adult plants glaucous-grey with adpressed short simple or two-armed (1 arm very short) hairs. Lowermost leaves 5-15(30) mm long, linear to narrow triangular, spreading to ± recurved, flat, moderately succulent, acute, c.1 mm wide, higher up succesively shorter, 1.5-2 x 1 mm. Spikes very dense, usually 1-4(10) cm x 2.5-3.5 mm. Bracts and bracteoles similar to upper leaves, obtusely keeled, the keel protruding into the obtuse apex, adpressed to tepals, in fruiting stage forming a small cup 2-2.5 mm diam.; bracts + triangular, 1.2-1.4 x 1.4-1.6 mm; bracteoles transversely ovate, 1.4-1.5 x 1.7-2 mm. Tepals ovate, apex rounded to subacute, 1.5-2.1 mm long, the outer 1-1.2 mm wide, transverse line at 1/3, green blotch triangular or elliptic, densely covered by vesicular hairs, towards the margins with smooth, flexuose, simple or unequally 2-armed hairs, grtading into simple hairs on the lower back and forming a ring at base, margins glabrous. Anthers 1.1-1.5 mm long, divided up to the appendage, sagittate; appendage 0.4-0.6 x 0.2-0.3 mm, slightly separated, flat, lanceolate or narrow ovate, light yellow; filaments almost linear; 1.5-1.7 x 0.25 mm; disc thick, rim-like, ± unlobed, 0.15-0.2 mm wide, upper surface glandular. Style 0.4-0.5 mm, conical, in upper part shortly papillose; stigmas 0.4-0.7 mm long, in upper part recurved, widest at the c. 0.2 mm broad obtuse apex, outside loosely papillose, inside densely so. Fruiting perianth (4)5-6(7) mm diam., wings subequal, overlapping, papery, whitish to straw-coloured, sometimes blackish tinged; tepal lobes above the wings forming a regular closed dome, each tepal with a longitudinal bulge; tepals below the wings forming a plate-like structure, the flat base narrow, with 5 grooves, outside densely hairy, with prominent middle vein. Seed 1.5-1.8 mm diam., green, horizontal.