Hermannia trifurca L.

Suffrutex, erect, woody, much branched, ultimate branchlets becoming indurated and spiky; branchlets scaly to minutely stellate-scaly, ridged in part. Stipules subulate to linear acute, 1.5-2.5 mm long. Leaves sessile or shortly petiolate, clustered on abbreviated shoots or single on the ultimate elongated shoots; blade linear to linear-cuneate, varying in size in each cluster, 6-25 mm long, 1.5-5 mm broad, rounded, acute or truncate at apex and often 3-toothed, densely to sparsely pubescent with, usually, minute stellate hairs, rays appressed and short, rarely long, margins entire, rarely toothed below tridentate apex. Inflorescence of 1-flowered cymes in the axils of upper leaves or arranged in fairly long terminal (pseudo-) racemes, flowers cernuous and secund; peduncle usually aborted or very short but occasionally up to 5 mm long, bi-bracteate at apex, stellate-pubescent; bracts subulate to linear, 1-3 mm long; pedicels usually 3-5 mm long when peduncle is not obvious, otherwise ranging from 1.5-4 mm, stellate-pubescent. Calyx 6-8 mm long, lobed to just beyond middle, sublaxly stellate-pubescent, usually denser in lower portion, the hairs short or long, lobes densely ciliate with tufted hairs. Petals “mauve”, “purple”, “pink to wine-red, ageing blue”, 7-11 mm long, suborbicular to broadly oblong-elliptic in upper half, narrowed below into a claw with infolded margins, glabrous. Stamens 7-8 mm long; filaments hyaline, oblong-obovate to narrowly oblong-cuneate, apparently glabrous, adhering at base to stipe; anthers ciliate, 4-5 mm long with the base overlapping the dilated filament. Ovary stipitate, 5-lobed, scaly and papillose, papillae longer on keels of lobes, about 1.5 mm long; stipe about 1.5 mm long; styles 5-7 mm long, eventually shortly exserted. Capsule 5-lobed, about 7 mm long, 6 mm broad, stipitate at base, apex with 5 pairs of spreading horns, keel of lobes and horns villous; stipe about 2 mm long; horns at first short, eventually up to 5 mm long.