Alectra lurida Harv.

An erect herb, strict, simple or somewhat branched, scabrid-hispid, dusky when dry, 5-16 in. high, apparently annual; stems somewhat leafy but less so than in M. sessiliflorum or in M. indicum, tetragonal; leaves alternate, oval, obtuse, sometimes apiculate or subacuminate, somewhat narrowed towards the base, sessile or subsessile, often shorter than the internodes, 1/4-1/2 in. long, 1/10-1/5 in. broad, entire or nearly so, more or less hispid, feebly 5-nerved; flowers axillary or spicate, numerous, shortly pedicellate or subsessile, about 1/2 in. long; spikes dense at the apex, more or less interrupted below, 3-7 in. long; bracteoles elliptic-linear, ciliate, about 1/6 in. long; pedicels up to 1/7 in. long; calyx loosely campanulate, about 1/3 in. long, hispid-pubescent on the nerves, shortly 5-cleft; lobes deltoid, about 1/10 in. long, not acuminate; corolla veined; stamens glabrous, 4, nearly equal; filaments filiform, about 1/8 in. long, inserted about the middle of the corolla-tube and reaching its top; anthers pallid, oval; cells 11/24 or 1/20 in. long, obtusely apiculate at the lower end; style arching below the elongated-lingulate stigma; capsule oval, glabrous, 1/4 in. long.