Evergreen subshrub, hermaphrodite, creeping with articulated stems up to 2 m long, very rarely or never eaten by herbivores. Main stem strongly woody, up to 3 cm in diameter. Bark greyish, longitudinally fissured in older stems and branches. Branchlets dull green in colour, very short and thick internodes compared to other species of the genus, sometimes wider than long, usually slightly thicker in the centre (2-7 mm diameter). Leaves opposite, very small, squamiform, amplexicaul, fused together and with the stem forming a bidentate dome at the nodes; each tooth is a leaf, with a scarious margin, obtuse, usually with a small mucro. Flowers hermaphrodite, axillary, grouped in spiciform inflorescences at the end of the branchlets. Perianth with 5 unequal parts: the 3 outer ones oval-suborbicular and the 2 internal ones narrowly oval; all obtuse. Fruit a berry with a seed shaped as a spiral, arranged vertically. Fruit perianth with 5 wings, intense pink or purple in colour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-12027","species","type-species","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n