Prostrate or ascending annual herb; stems 5–35 cm long, striate, flexuose, moderately hairy. Leaves palmately trifoliolate, petiolate to subsessile; leaflets obovate to oblong, 5–15 mm long, 3–6 mm wide, appressed-hairy on both surfaces, lateral veins mostly recurved near margins, margins minutely dentate, obtuse to retuse at apex; stipules membranous, villous, green- or purple-veined. Inflorescence few–many-flowered, ovoid to obovoid, 7–20 mm long, 7–20 mm wide, axillary, sessile; flowers sessile. Calyx 5–8 mm long, appressed-hairy, tube cylindric, 10-veined, throat narrowed by an annular thickening in fruit, teeth unequal, spiny, lower one longer than tube and recurved in fruit, others erect or spreading in fruit; corolla 4–7 mm long, usually white, persistent. Pod ovoid, c. 2 mm long, membranous, included in calyx tube; seed 1, ovoid, c. 1.5 mm long, yellow or brown Flowers mainly Sep.–Dec.
LoM, MuM, Wim, GleP, Brid, VVP, VRiv, GipP, OtP, WaP, CVU, GGr, DunT, NIS, EGU, HSF. Also naturalised WA, SA, NSW, Tas. Native to northern Africa, Europe, the Middle East. Recorded for a few sites in Victoria, mostly in the western half of the State.
