Multi-branched annual herb to 1 m; stems pilose, more so on one side.. Leaves ovate to elliptic, often narrowly so, 3–9.7 cm long, 0.9–4 cm wide, margins serrate, with a pair of basal setae to 8 mm long, rounded or cuneate at base, acute or acuminate, with scattered pubescence, mainly on veins and midrib; petioles 0.8–3.5 cm long, pilose, more so on the upper surface; stipules 3–8 mm long, pilose.. Inflorescence of 1–3-flowered pilose fascicles; peduncles 1–2 mm long; pedicels 1.5–2 mm long, pilose; bracts up to 1 mm long, pilose.. Sepals 5, 4–5 mm long, 1 mm wide, pilose.. Petals 5, 3.5–5 mm long, 2–2.2 mm wide, pale yellow, obovate, with ciliate claw at base; stamens ± 25, 3–4 mm long; ovary spherical, echinulate, 1 mm long.. Capsules solitary or in 2s, rarely 3s, spherical, strongly echinate, 0.5–0.8 cm long, 0.7–1 cm wide, splitting into 5 valves, glabrous.. Seeds angular up to 2 mm long, reticulate, black.. Fig. 18/8 (fruit, p. 103).
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A herb. It grows each year from seed. It grows 60 cm tall. The flowers are bright yellow.
Mopane woodland; clearing in Brachystegia woodland; river banks; mixed woodland and thicket; weed of cultivation; bushland and grassland on seasonally water-logged black cotton soil; at elevations from 800-1,650 metres.
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