Woody evil-smelling climber or more rarely suberect herb 0.3–9 m. long or tall; stems at first purplish, densely pubescent, later glabrous, pale, usually lenticellate and somewhat corky.. Leaf-blades round, ovate, elliptic or lanceolate, 0.8–6.5 cm. long, 0.2–2.7 wide, rounded to sharply acute at the apex or rarely slightly emarginate, narrowly cuneate to rounded at the base, densely to sparsely pubescent all over or at length glabrescent; petiole 1–6(–10) mm. long; stipules ovate or triangular, 1–2.5 mm. long.. Flowers 1–5 in axillary fascicles; pedicels (3–)5–8(–10) mm. long, densely pubescent save near the base of the calyx, bearing small bracts.. Calyx-tube ovoid, 1–2 mm. long, glabrous; lobes 5, narrowly triangular, 1.5–2.2(–4) mm. long, very slightly joined at the base, densely pubescent.. Corolla white or greenish white with a reddish purple centre, sparsely to densely hairy outside; tube narrowly funnel-shaped, 0.6–1.6 cm. long, the limb 0.3–1.1 cm. long, somewhat like that of a Convolvulus with thicker midpetaline areas hairy outside and thin glabrous intermediate areas, but 5-lobed, the lobes ovate, 3.6–8 mm. long, 5–6 mm. wide, densely hairy round the margins; throat densely hairy with coloured hairs.. Styles joined for 0.5 mm. or free, together with stigma 1–1.2 cm. long, included.. Fruit compressed-ellipsoid, 1–1.1 cm. long, 0.7–0.8 mm. wide, 2–3 mm. thick; pericarp straw-coloured, glabrous; pyrenes round or elliptic, practically flat, 9–10 mm. long, 7.5–9 mm. wide, densely covered with white surface rhaphides, the marginal wing 0.75–1.5 mm. wide, on the outside with the nerves prominent on the surface, the main detached rib 8–9 mm. long.. Seeds black, 8 mm. long, 6 mm. wide.. Fig. 19, p. 178.
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