Adenostemma mauritianum Dc.

Herb to 1.2 m; stem fleshy, ascending, rooting at base, sometimes striate, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, more so towards the apex.. Leaves petiolate, blade broadly triangular to ovate, 3.2–16 cm long, 1.7–9(–11) cm wide, base attenuate to form narrow wings along petiole, margins serrate, dentate or crenulate, apex acute, lamina membranous, darker above than beneath, glabrous or sub-glabrous with few scabrid hairs; petiole 0.5–7.2 cm.. Inflorescence branching ± dichotomously, bracts 0.5–5 cm long, sessile; capitula 4–10 mm diameter when mature; stalks of individual capitula 1.2–5 cm, densely pubescent; phyllaries green, flat, narrowly elliptic to oblong, 4–5 mm long, 1–1.5 mm wide, sparsely pubescent, margins entire or ciliate, apex obtuse to acute.. Florets 21–28; corolla white, 2–3 mm long, tube sparsely glandular-stipitate, gradually widening into limb, lobes (4–)5; anthers free, 5, ± 1 mm long; style 3.5–4 mm long, bifid for more than half its length, arms swollen and flattened, glabrous.. Mature achenes 2.5–4 mm long, smooth, glabrous or sometimes with minute stipitate glands, never tuberculate; pappus of 3–4 pegs, 1–1.2 mm long.. Fig. 179 (page 824).