Fls dimorphic, the lower small, pistillate, fertile, the upper seemingly perfect but functionally staminate; lower fls with cupulate, strongly 5-ribbed cal, the 5 short lobes triangular-subulate, the cor calyptriform, not opening, promptly forced off by the developing ovary, the stamens none and the style short; upper fls with somewhat larger cal and tubular, colored, distinctly zygomorphic, shortly 4-lobed cor about equaled by the stamens and style; freely branched herb with small, scattered, alternate lf-scales and numerous subsessile, solitary, axillary fls, forming a large panicle. Monospecific.
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
