Biennial or short-lived perennial, with stout taproot. Stems unbranched or branched below, with soft eglandular hairs, becoming also glandular above, (15)-30-60-(130) cm tall. Lvs with soft eglandular hairs, green, lanceolate to ovate, acute to acuminate, petiolate, becoming sessile above; lamina (2)-4-8-(15) × (0.5)-1-2-(4) cm. Infl. a (3)-7-10-(20)-flowered dichasium, sometimes unequally branched; pedicels 1-5 cm long; bracts lanceolate, acute, green. Fls unisexual. Calyx with short to long glandular and eglandular hairs: calyx in ♂ 10-veined, cylindric, 12-18 mm long; calyx in ♀ 20-veined, ovoid, 17-25 mm long; teeth linear-acuminate, erect or recurved. Petals white; limb 2-fid, rarely 4-lobed; claw lobed at base of limb; coronal scales oblong, 2-fid, 2 mm long in ♂, 0.5 mm long in ♀. Styles 5, erect or recurved at apex, 12-20 mm long. Capsule ovoid, included or c. = calyx, 14-20 mm long; teeth 10, erect or spreading; carpophore very short. Seeds dull dark grey, triangular or reniform, flattened, warty, 1.2-1.4 mm long.