Hammeria

Small, prostrate shrublets up to 500 mm high; long shoots may spread from central stem, rooting at widely-spaced nodes. Leaves opposite, borne upright, basal leaves joined for up to a third of their lengths becoming membranous and persistent, forming sheaths around young leaves which form the next leaf pair, green leaf pairs 10 to 20 mm long, D-shaped in cross section and borne close together, margins toothed at tips; surfaces with a layer of flaking wax and dark green translucent dots, colour varying from grey-green in rainy season to buff in dry season. Flowers 1 or 2, borne upright on stalks up to 30 mm long, +/- 20 mm in diameter, subtended by bracts resembling leaves; open from midday to mid-afternoon. Sepals 5, equal, recurved, sometimes with toothed tips. Petals in 2 or 3 whorls, pale pink with white at the centre. Stamens forming a central cone; staminodes short. Nectary a crenulate, dark green ring. Ovary: placentas parietal; stigmas 5, longer than stamens. Fruit a 5-locular capsule, close to Mitrophyllum type; covering membranes ample; valves winged; expanding keels diverging and expanding sheets conspicuous; closing bodies absent or present as small bulges. Seeds smooth, honey-coloured with darker tips. F lowering in spring. D istinguishing characters: small shrublets, branches prostrate, rooting at the nodes; leaves toothed at tips; capsule 5-locular, +/- of the Mitrophyllum type.