Melochia villosa (Mill.) Fawc. & Rendle

Herb or undershrub, erect or sometimes decumbent, 0.30-1 m. high, the young stems more or less densely stellate-puberulous and long-pilose-arachnoid, some-times with gland-tipped hairs near the apex. Leaves shortly petiolate, the petiole canaliculate above, 0.5-1(-2) cm. long, more or less densely sericeous, the stipules linear-lanceolate, 5-6 mm. long, long-ciliate; blade oblong-ovate to ovate, rounded to mostly cordate at the base, acute at the apex, up to 5.5 cm. long and 3 cm. wide, chartaceous, the margins doubly serrate, more or less densely and softly stellate-puberulous and long-sericeous, the inclumentum always denser on the lower sur- face, the nervation somewhat impressed above and prominent beneath. Inflores-cences terminal or/and axillary, of dense, sessile or subsessile clusters forming interrupted or continuous, leafy spikes. Flozwers 7-8.5 mm. long, heterostyled, sessile, subtended by 3-4 bracts, the bracts linear-filiform, ca. 6-8 mm. long, se-riceous and long-ciliate, the hairs mostly simple, sometimes gland-tipped; calyx campanulate to broadly campanulate. ca. 4.5-5 mm. long and 4.5 mm. wide, the lobes from a broad base abruptly acuminate, ca. 1-2 mm. long and 1.7-2 mm. wide at the base, sericeous and mostly with simple hairs or stellate-puberulous and sericeous and often with gland-tipped hairs outside, glabrous inside, persistent; petals obovate, long-unguiculate and rather long-adnate to the base of the staminal tube for ca. 2-3 mm., rounded at the apex, ca. 7-8.5 mm. long and 2.2-3 mm. wide, pink to pinkish-purple; long-styled flowers with a staminal tube ca. 3.5-4.5 mm. long, gener-ally sparsely hirtellous, the anthers sessile and ca. 1.5 mm. long, the ovary sessile, oblong-ellipsoid, ca. 1.5 mm. long and 0.75-0.9 mm. in diam., densely sericeous, the styles shortly connate at the base, ca. 5.5-6.5 mm. long, the stigmas plumose-papil-late; short-styled flowers with a staminal tube ca. 2.6-2.7 mm. long, generally sparsely hirtellous, the filaments ca. 2.5-3 mm. long, the anthers ca. 1.5 mm. long, the ovary sessile, oblong, ca. 1.5 mm. long and 0.6-0.7 mm. in diam., densely seri-ceous, the styles shortly connate at the base, ca. 3-3.5 mm. long, the stigmas ob-scurely tuberculate. Capsule surrounded by the persistent calyx, depressed-globose, ca. 2.5 mm. long and 3 mm. in diam., stellate-puberulous and sericeous especially on the upper part, each coccus ca. 1.5-1.8 mm. thick, splitting completely into 2 valves; seed ca. 1.8-2 mm. long and 1.3 mm. thick, the testa minutely tuberculate.