Chascanum hildebrandtii (Vatke) J.B.Gillett

Perennial herb or subshrub, ± much branched and often spreading, ± woody at base, 20–40 cm. tall but often appearing to be a less branched annual, perhaps flowering in the first year, and frequently in such plants the lower stems are very distinctly corky; stems usually densely white-pubescent and with longer shaggy white hairs as well.. Leaf-blades oblong-elliptic, narrowly oblong or obovate, 0.8–6.5 cm. long, 0.3–3.5 cm. wide, obtuse or rounded in outline at the apex, cuneate-attenuate at the base, ± uniformly toothed save at base, sparsely to densely pubescent on both sides with ± curled white hairs or sometimes glabrescent; main nerves prominent beneath but intermediate areas plane, the venation not reticulate; petiole 0.5–3 cm. long, usually shaggy white-pubescent with long and short hairs.. Flowers in dense terminal spikes 7–33(–100) cm. long, hairy like the stems when young with bracts comose at the apex; bracts lanceolate, ± 4–5 mm. long, acuminate, pilose with scattered white hairs.. Calyx narrowly tubular, 0.8–1.3 cm. long, conspicuously 5-plicate and ribbed, with sparse to dense short and longer white hairs, minutely 5-toothed, eventually splitting.. Corolla white, sometimes at least with a yellow throat, ± hypocrateriform, very variable in size; tube slender, distinctly curved, 1.3–2.9 cm. long, distinctly widened at the throat; lobes oblong or ± round, 2.2–6 mm. long, 1.5–5.8 mm. wide, broadly rounded at the apex.. Stamens included, the anthers bright yellow.. Ovary oblong, ± 1 mm. long; style filiform, 1–2.6 cm. long, often ± persistent.. Nutlets straw-coloured but eventually usually black, linear-oblong, 5–6.5 mm. long, ± 1 mm. wide, ribbed outside and quite strongly reticulate near apex which is a little variable, truncate, slightly produced or pointed but not distinctly winged.. Fig. 2.

It is a tropical plant. It grows between 20 and 360 m above sea level.