Annual, hemiparasitic, somewhat succulent, glabrous (except floral parts), to about 50 cm tall, with numerous divergent, ascending branches, green or purplish, drying blackish; leaves mostly opposite (especially below), linear, entire, stem leaves 2-4 cm long, 1-1.5 mm wide; inflorescences racemose, bracteate, 4 to 12-flowered, pedicels ascending, glabrous; calyx tube 5-6 mm long, campanulate, calyx lobes narrowly triangular to nearly linear, 5-15 mm long, finely puberulent within; corolla pink, 20-25 mm long, tube 17-21 mm long, lobes 3-5 mm long, rounded-truncate, ciliate, pubescent outside; stamens 4, in two pairs of unequal length, anthers and usually filaments lanate; style about 15 mm long, pubescent; fruit a capsule about as long or slightly longer than the calyx lobes, apex rounded and mucronate; seeds numerous. Flowering September through October.