Plants 30-50 cm. Stems sparsely to moderately branched ; gla-brate to glandular-pubescent. Leaves: stipular spines (recurved) 1-3 mm; petiole 1-6 cm (glandular-pubescent); leaflets 3, blade lanceolate-elliptic to ovate or rhombic, 2-4(-6) × 1.5-3 (-4) cm, margins serrulate-denticulate, apex acute or obtuse, surfaces glandular-pubescent abaxially, glandular adaxially. Racemes 1-20 cm (10-40 cm in fruit); bracts unifoliate, elliptic, 10-20 mm. Pedicels 10-25 mm, (glandular-pubescent). Flowers: sepals persistent, green, lanceolate, 2-6 × 0.8-1.3 mm, margins entire, glandular-pubescent; petals white, oblong to ovate, 5-10 × 2-3 mm; stamens purple, 5-10(-25) mm; anthers 2.5-4 mm; gynophore 1-3 mm in fruit; ovary 4-6 mm; style 0.1 mm. Capsules (15-)25-40(-65) × 2.5-4 mm, glabrous. Seeds 10-20, yellowish (black), obovoid, 2.4-2.8 × 1.9-2.1 mm, transversely rugose. 2n = 18.

Flowering late spring-late summer. Disturbed roadsides, vacant lots, waste areas, gravel pits, lakeshores, streambeds; 0-200 m; introduced; Ala., Tex.; Mexico; West Indies; Central America; South America.