Perennial, much branched, sprawling shrub, up to 2 m tall. Stems ribbed, angled or winged. Leaves, petioles, pedicels and young stems finely hairy or almost glabrous. Fruiting branches sympodial, many jointed. Leaves large, deeply cordate, 2/3-palmatifid into usually 5, rarely 7 lobes. Nectaries on the main veins above the level of the leaf sinuses. Stipules large and very conspicuous, broad, oblique, clasping the stem, persistent. Bracteoles large, persistent, deeply cordate, divided along the upper margin into 10-15 acute or acuminate teeth. Petals hardly exceeding the bracteoles in length, deep golden yellow. Staminal column rather short, antheriferous throughout. Filaments short, all about the same length. Stamens rather compactly arranged, often in five ranks. Stigmas free, spreading. Capsules 3-4 locular, almost spherical; each loculus containing two basal ovules, the whole of the rest of the cavity being filled with a mass of short hairs (3-5 mm long), rusty red at maturity, growing inwards from the suture. Seeds ovoid, black, bearing streaks of very minute brown fuzz hairs, giving a black and brown striped effect.
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