Plants 1-4(-6) dm. Stems pros-trate, decumbent, or ascending, base often reddish, branched proximally. Leaves: ocrea loose, glabrous; petiole (0.5-)1-8(-15) cm, glabrous; blade subhastate to elliptic or ovate, 1-10 × 0.5-6 cm, base truncate to cuneate, apex obtuse to acute. Staminate flowers 1-8 per ocreate fascicle; tepals narrowly oblong to oblanceolate, 1.5-2 mm. Pistillate flowers 1-4 per ocreate fascicle; outer tepals ovate to oblong, 4-6 mm in fruit, inner tepals broadly triangular-ovate, 5-6 mm in fruit, apex mucronate. Fruiting perianths 7-9 × 9-10 mm, spines ascending or spreading, 5-10 mm, base tapering. Achenes 4-6 × 2-3 mm, shiny. 2n = 20. Flowering year-round. Disturbed sites, especially in sandy soils; 0-200 m; introduced; Calif.; Africa (Republic of South Africa); introduced in West Indies (Trinidad), Europe, Asia (India, Pakistan, Taiwan), Africa (Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Tanzania, Zimbabwe), Pacific Islands (Hawaii), Australia.