Shrub up to 2 m. tall, with densely divaricating, rigid, entangled branchlets, glab. or nearly so. Lvs of juveniles narrow-lanceolate to obovate in outline, up to 2 cm. long, us. less, irregularly pinnatifid to bipinnatifid or dentate. Lvs of adults (sts mixed with lvs of juvenile form) obovate to elliptic in outline, dimorphic (a) entire to subentire, (b) shallowly to deeply lobed or toothed. Fls solitary, terminal on short arrested branchlets and subtended by fascicles of lvs, or strictly terminal on long branchlets. Sepals ovate to ovate-oblong, up to 2 mm. long, ciliate; petals linear-spathulate, c. 5 mm. long, very dark red. Capsules subglobose, subcompressed to ovoid, 5-8 mm. diam., pilose when young; valves granulate; seeds 2-6.

2n = 24