[Illustration]
This bush is common in the fields around Rio-Janeiro, where it blossoms
the whole year. Its branches are erect, somewhat sarmentose, slightly
pubescent at their extremities, with alternate, glabrous, somewhat
undulate leaves. Flowers small, scattered over long axillary or terminal
spikes; perianth persistent, herbaceous, with four linear divisions.
Stamens four, alternate with the divisions of the perianth and a little
taller. A single ovary, surmounted by a style, divided into ten reflexed
stigmata. Capsule flattened, containing a single seed. The roots are
branching and very fibrous; they smell strongly of garlic.
We employ the recent root.