Small subshrub 0.35–2 m tall; stems blackish purple (rarely white) at base, 3–4.5 mm diameter, shortly stellate-hairy.. Leaves broadly orbicular, shortly oblong or ovate-lanceolate, 2.5–10.5 cm long, 2–8 cm wide, sometimes very shallowly 3-lobed, but usually shortly acuminate to rounded at tip, base truncate to cordate, margin shallowly to coarsely serrate to crenate, stellate-scabrid to subscabrid above, subscabrid to softly hairy and whitish beneath; petiole 2.5–7.5 cm long, subscabrid; stipules persistent, linear-lanceolate, 5–10(–17) mm long, 1–2.5 mm broad, usually dark brown, stellate-hairy.. Inflorescence terminal (but the vegetative stem continuing from the highest leaf-axil), almost completely leafless, highly elongated, 14–45 cm long, stellate-subscabrid, forking once (in Flora area very rarely either unbranched or branched up to 5 times), bearing flowers only above the fork, the two branches subequal, 8–32 cm long, bearing numerous flowers at nodes 4–19 mm apart, each node bearing 1–3 cymes of (1–)3 flowers each, 0–2 of the lowest nodes bearing reduced, narrowly elliptic-rhomboid leaves 4–14 mm long, 4 mm wide, each bearing 1–3 pairs of raised glands up to 1 mm diameter at the base; peduncle 2–2.5 mm long; bracts caducous, as stipules, 2 mm long; pedicels 0.5–1.5 mm long.. Sepals oblanceolate, pandurate, 4–8.5 mm long, 1.5 mm wide, with a very short terminal spine 0.25–0.5 mm long, outer surface golden yellow, shortly and thickly hairy.. Petals 4.5–7 mm long, 2.5–4 mm wide, blade orbicular, claw 1–2.5 mm long, gradually tapering to the base, hairy patch at base diffuse, 0.75 mm long; stamens 15–22; ovary villose.. Fruit ovoid, slightly longitudinally flattened, 4–6 mm long, 2.5–5 mm wide, grey-brown, covered with short simple white hairs and ± 120 stout subglabrous bristles each inclined at ± 45° towards the fruit tip and bearing 1–3 terminal hairs, each straight or recurved.. Fig. 14/17–21 (p. 88).
Home