Pavonia spinifex Cav.

Shrub, small or large and straggling, the stem up to 5 m high but usually much shorter, sparsely to rather copiously stellate-puberulus. Leaves with the petiole 0.5-6 cm long, more or less densely stellate-puberulus, the stipules subulate-linear; blade ovate, oblong-ovate to narrowly oblong-ovate, rounded, truncate or more or less deeply cordate at the base, acute to more or less acuminate at the apex, irregularly and coarsely serrate-dentate or dentate-crenate at the margin, 4-12 cm long and 2-8 cm wide, 3-to 5-palminerved, scabridulous and stellate-puberulus on both sides, the venation slightly prominulous above and prominulous beneath. Flowers axillary, solitary or somewhat clustered on short branchlets, the pedicel short to elongate, up to 5 cm long, more or less densely stellate-puberulus; epicalyx of 5-8 bractlets, these nearly distinct, narrowly oblong-linear, somewhat con-stricted toward the base, acute at the apex, 9-12 mm long and 0.8-1.3(2.5) mm wide, stellate-puberulus and ciliate at the margin; calyx cupuliform at the base, lobed to below the middle, 9-13 mm long, stellate-puberulus, the lobes narrowly triangular-ovate, acute to acuminate, 6-9 mm long and 2.5-4 mm wide at the base, ciliate at the margin; petals obovate-cuneate, unguiculate, 2-4 cm long and 1.5-2.5 cm wide, yellow; staminal tube nearly equalling the corolla, lobulate-dentate, antheriferous on the upper 1/3, the filaments ca 2-2.5 mm long; style branches ex-ceeding the staminal tube, the stigmas capitellate and fimbrillate. Mericarps broadly triquetrous-obovoid, 4-6 mm long, rigid-chartaceous, the back convex, prominently reticulate, setose at the apex and with 3 longitudinal ribs, 1 central and 2 marginal, each bearing a very stout, retrorsely setose awn up to 10 mm long, the central awn apical, the lateral markedly below the apex; seeds trigonous-reniform, 2.5-4 mm long, glabrous.