Mollugo costata Y. T. Chang & C. F. Wei.

Herbs erect or diffuse, 10-30 cm. Petiole short or leaves subsessile; basal leaves in a rosette, obovate or obovate-spatulate, 1.5-2 cm; stem leaves in pseudowhorls of 3-7, or 2 or 3 in groups on one side of node, oblanceolate or linear-oblanceolate, 1-3 cm × 1.5-4(-8) mm, yellowish green when dry, base narrowly cuneate, apex acute or obtuse. Inflorescences axillary, umbellate clusters, 3-5-flowered. Pedicel 3-5 mm, slender. Tepals 5, rarely 4, imbricate, pale or greenish white, oblong or ovate-oblong, 2.5-3 mm, margin membranous, apex acute. Stamens (2 or)3(-5). Ovary 3-loculed; styles 3. Capsule ellipsoid or subglobose, 3-4 × ca. 2.5 mm, pericarp membranous, 3-valved, apex with persistent styles, persistent tepals surrounding more than half. Seeds numerous, chestnut-colored, shiny, reniform, smooth, raphe with 3-5 arcuate ribs, between ribs with fine and closely transverse grains. Fl. and fr. autumn-winter.

Barren grasslands, dry farmlands; near sea level. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Shandong, Taiwan [Japan; tropical America, S Europe].