Polycarpaea spicata Wight & Arn. in Ann. Nat. Hist. 3: 91. 1839; Edgew. & Hook. f. in Fl. Brit. India 1: 246. 1874.

Herbs, annual, glabrous, 5 - 12 cm high; branches erect, filiform. Leaves petiolate, obovate-spathulate, 6 - 12 mm long, fleshy, nerveless; radical leaves in rosettes; stipules lacerate, scarious. Cymes densely fasciculate or subumbellate, long-pedunculate. Flowers subspicate, crowded, ca 4 mm across, bracteate. Sepals ovate-elliptic to ovate- lanceolate, subacute at apex, 1.2 - 1.6 mm long, searious with a deep brown midnerve. Petals oblong, obtuse, small, included. Capsules shorter than sepals; seeds shiny.

Fl. & Fr. Oct. - Nov.

Distrib. India: Coastal areas. Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.

Pakistan, W. Asia and Australia.