Colignonia parviflora

Native to Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, it is a perennial, branching shrub that can lean on surrounding vegetation. It grows in Andean scrub and along disturbed forest edges. Its simple leaves are usually opposite, sometimes in whorls, with long stalks and oval to triangular blades with smooth edges. Flowering branches divide into many small, stalked, umbrella-like clusters. The tiny white flowers contain both male and female reproductive parts and are accompanied by conspicuous whitish bracts. They are followed by dry, nutlike fruits. Photographed in Ecuador.