Tetramolopium sylvae is a monoecious, prostrate-rosette shrub that grows 4.5 to 6 cm tall. The stems are stout, branched at the base, and glabrous. The leaves are succulent and spatulate, measuring 15 to 30 mm long and 3 to 7 mm wide. They are either glabrous or slightly glandular punctate, with strigose or glabrous margins. The margins are entire or occasionally coarsely dentate when young, with teeth that are 0.4 to 0.6 mm long. The leaves are short-petiolate. The flower heads are solitary, with peduncles measuring 2.1 to 4.9 cm long, glabrous or minutely glandular-pubescent, and subulate bracts. The involucre is hemispherical, 4.5 to 6 mm high and 9 to 13 mm in diameter, with 38 to 54 lanceolate bracts that are sparsely glandular punctate, with entire or slightly fimbriate margins, and lanceolate apexes. The receptacle is 2.5 to 5 mm in diameter. There are 55 to 79 ray florets per head in a single series, with white rays that are 2.5 to 3.9 mm long and 0.5 to 1 mm wide. The disk florets are functionally male, numbering 20 to 40 per head, with yellow, narrowly funnelform corollas that are 3.5 to 4 mm long and 1.2 to 1.6 mm long tubes. The pappus is in a single series, white, and 2 to 2.8 mm long. The achenes are oblanceolate, measuring 1.6 to 2.6 mm long and 0.7 to 1 mm wide, either glabrous or apically strigose, with faces 1- to 2-nerved. It occurs in coastal dry and moist shrublands, often found on seaside bluffs, cliffs, and flats.
Bean-shaped (Reniform): Resembling the shape of a kidney or bean.
Square or Oblong: Angular shape with all sides more or less equal or longer than wide.
Triangular: Three-sided shape, broadest below the middle.
Elliptic: Rounded at both ends. shaped like an ellipse or oval.
Ovate or Obovate: egg-shaped, broader at one end.
Linear: Extremely long and narrow, with sides usually parallel.
Round: Appears circular, with length and width roughly the same.
Cardioid (Heart-Shaped): One edge has a prominent double curve into two lobes.
Cylindrical: A cylinder with parallel sides and a circular cross-section.
Discoid: Resembling a disc or plate with two relatively flat surfaces.
Fusiform: Spindle-shaped, tapering at both ends.
Globose: Spherical.
Lenticular: Resembling a lens with two convex surfaces.
Ovoid: Egg-shaped.
Plano-convex: Having a flat ventral (planar) surface and a curved dorsal (convex) surface.
Polygonal: Having more than three flat faces meeting at angles.
Sectoroid: Resembling a segment of an orange with two relatively flat faces and one curved face.
Subglobose/ellipsoid: Inflated shape but less than spherical.
Trigonous: Having three faces that meet at a distinct angle; triangular in cross-section.
Endangered species (E) are species that are so rare they’re in danger of becoming extinct.
Threatened species (T) are species that are likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of their range.
Species of Concern (SOC) are species about which there are some concerns regarding status and threats, but insufficient information is available to list the species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Plant Extinction Prevention (PEP) is a state status for rare plants that focuses its efforts on species that have fewer than 50 remaining wild individuals.
Orthodox seeds (desiccation-tolerant): can be dried to an internal seed moisture of less than 12% water and stored at freezing temperatures.
Intermediate seeds (temperature-sensitive) tend to age faster than orthodox seeds and may have only a 5-year lifespan when stored at -20°C. They are recommended for storage at 5°C.
Recalcitrant seeds (desiccation-sensitive): cannot be stored in a conventional freezer as they cannot survive after drying and/or freezing at -20°C. They are recommended for cryopreservation storage.