Gomphocarpus fruticosus (L.) W.T.Aiton

Shrubby perennial herb 0.5-1.5(-3) m tall arising from a tap root; stems erect, much branched from above the base, woody below, densely spreading-pubescent, sometimes shortly tomentose on young shoots. Leaves paired; petiole 1-10 mm long, pubescent; lamina (2.5-)4-12 x (0.2-)0.3-0.8(-1.3) cm, linear or linear-lanceolate, apex acute or attenuate, mucronate, base narrowly to broadly cuneate, margins smooth, plane or somewhat revolute in northern part of the range, coriaceous, sparsely to densely pubescent with soft white hairs on the midrib and margins. Inflorescences extra-axillary with 4-7(-12) flowers in a nodding umbel, peduncles 1.5-3(-4) cm long, pubescent; bracts filiform, deciduous; pedicels 1-2.5 cm long, pubescent. Sepals 2-5 x 0.6-1.3 mm, lanceolate or triangular, attenuate, pubescent. Corolla reflexed, glabrous outside, minutely papillate and frequently with long white hairs along the right margin within; lobes 5-8 x 3-5 mm, ovate, subacute. Corona lobes attached 1-1.5 mm above base of staminal column, laterally compressed, complicate, 2-4 x 1.5-3 mm, ± as tall as the column, quadrate, the upper margins entire, proximal margins produced into a pair of falcate teeth c.1-1.5 mm long, pointing back along the upper margins of the lobe or curved down into the cavity, cavity without teeth or projections. Anther wings 1.5-2 mm long, margins not curved. Corpusculum 0.3 x 0.1-0.15 mm, subcylindrical, brown; translator arms c.0.3-0.4 x 0.1 mm, flattened; pollinia 1.2-x 0.3 mm, flattened, oblong or oblanceolate in outline. Stigma head flat. Fruiting pedicel contorted to hold follicle erect; follicle 4-7 x 1.5-2.5 cm, ovoid, tapering gradually or abruptly into an attenuate beak, strongly or weakly inflated, pubescent, with or without pubescent filiform processes. Seeds 3.5-5 x 2 mm, ovate with one convex and one concave face, verrucose; coma c.3 cm long.

It is a tropical plant. In grows in savannah grassland in Guinea. It is usually in sandy soil and often in soil that is occasionally waterlogged. It is often along the edges of rivers. In southern Africa it grows between 45-1,500 m above sea level. It can grow in arid places. In Yunnan.

The roots are cooked and eaten as a vegetable. Caution: Several parts of the plant are poisonous.

Can be grown by cuttings or seedlings.