36. Spermolepis Raf. (scale-seed)

Plants annual, glabrous. Stems loosely ascending to erect. Leaves alternate and occasionally also basal (1 basal leaf rarely present at flowering), short-petiolate or more commonly sessile, the sheathing bases not or only slightly inflated. Leaf blades ovate to oblong-ovate in outline, pinnately 2–4 times dissected, the usually numerous ultimate segments 1–25 mm long, narrowly linear, usually threadlike. Inflorescences terminal and axillary, compound umbels, short- to more commonly long-stalked. Involucre absent. Rays 3–15, ascending or spreading. Involucel of 1–3 bractlets, these mostly shorter than the flower stalks, linear, the margins sometimes minutely toothed. Flowers 1–6 in each umbellet. Sepals absent. Petals oblong to ovate, rounded at the tip, white. Ovaries glabrous or densely pubescent with hooked hairs (bristles). Fruits 1.5–2.0 mm long, ovate in outline, flattened laterally, slightly narrowed along the commissures, glabrous, roughened with minute tubercles, or pubescent with hooked bristles, the mericarps with 5 inconspicuous, narrow, rounded ribs, these more or less obscured by the tubercles or bristles (when present). Four species, North America, Hawaii, South America.