Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Shrubs, sometimes arborescent, pubescent with stellate, simple, and/or glandular hairs.

Stems: Branching often scandent, glabrous or pubescent, the hairs principally simple and stellate.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Alternate. Blades narrowly to broadly ovate to elliptic or orbicular in outline, unlobed or shallowly 3-lobed or 5-lobed. Apex acuminate. Base cordate to truncate. Margins serrate. Petioles present. Stipules present.

Flowers: Flowers solitary in the leaf axils or in terminal, cymose clusters, pedicellate; involucral bracts (6-)8-9(-17), linear to ovate or spatulate, connate at base. Flowers bisexual (perfect). Calyx composed of connate sepals, (3-)5-lobed, campanulate to tubular, the tube usually longer than lobes, the lobes valvate in bud. Corolla actinomorphic to moderately zygomorphic, red or sometimes white, funnelform, corolla of 5 petals, obovate, each petal with a prominent basal auricle distinct from each other but adnate at base to staminal column, convolute in bud. Stamens 5 to numerous, monadelphous, forming a staminal column, staminal column exserted, shortly antheriferous below the 5-lobed apex; anthers monothecal. Pollen globose, echinate. Ovary superior, carpels 5, placentation axile; ovules 1 per carpel, ascending; style exceeding the staminal column, branches 10; stigmas capitate.

Fruit: Schizocarps red or orange; fleshy at first; the individual smooth; trigonous mericarps separating on drying; indehiscent. Seeds reniform; with or without endosperm.

Ploidy:

Habitat:

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