Leaf blades deeply palmately 3–5-lobed. Pistillate flowers: hyaline bristle at apex of hypanthial aculei 2–3 times longer than opaque base. Pepos obscurely aculeate, aculei 1–2 mm.

Flowering Jul–Oct. Pastures, old fields, fencerows, roadsides, lake shores, hammocks; 20–500 m; introduced; Calif., Ga., Mass., N.Y.; Africa; Atlantic Islands (Cape Verde Islands); introduced also in Mexico, West Indies, Central America, South America, Pacific Islands (Marquesas Islands), Australia.