Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Sprawling to erect shrubs 1–3 m tall, or small trees up to 5(–10) m tall.

Stems: Stems glabrous or finely stellate-pubescent below, stellate-pubescent above, sometimes with prominent aculei.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Alternate. Leaves heteroblastic. The leaves at midpoint ovate or 3-5-lobed, 5-14 cm long X 4.5-12 cm wide. The leaves at upper plant: leaves bract-like and oblanceolate, to 20 X 5 mm long or shallowly lanceolate to ovate to 3-5-lobed, 15-60 mm long X 8-80 mm wide. Leaves at mid-plant: apex acute to obtuse. Leaves at upper plant: bract-like and oblanceolate leaves with apex acute, lanceolate to ovate leaves with acute to obtuse apex. Base truncate to cordate (at mid-plant). Leaves at upper plant: bract-like and oblanceolate with a cuneate base. Upper surfaces glabrate or finely stellate-pubescent. The leaf nectary 1-2 mm long, on midrib at base of abaxial leaf surface, or sometimes absent. Margins serrate to dentate: leaves near base of the plant not seen. Leaves at upper plant: bract-like and oblanceolate leaves with serrate margin. Petiolate; leaves at mid-plant: petioles 3-8.5 cm long, sparsely to densely fine stellate-pubescent, or sometimes with a few coarse stellate hairs. Leaves at upper plant: petioles 0.8-9 cm long, pubescent like those at mid-plant. Stipules filiform, 3–15 mm long, sparsely to densely fine stellate-pubescent.

Flowers: Flowers solitary, axillary, or sometimes clustered near the apex; peduncles 2-5 mm in bud, elongating to 13-15 mm in fruit, articulating at the base, sparsely to densely fine to coarse stellate-pubescent, sometimes with straight, simple, shiny, pustular-based hairs to 2 mm: involucellar bracteoles 7-11 in number. linear to narrowly subulate, rounded or flattened, 9-25 mm long, pubescent like peduncles, the apex entire. Flowers bisexual (perfect). Calyx 15 mm in bud, elongating to 35 (40) mm in fruit, the lobes acute to longacuminate at the apex, sparsely to densely fine stellate-pubescent, or sometimes with appressed or matted. shiny, simple (or sometimes 2-forked) pustuliferous hairs, the midrib and marginal ribs green-brown (or brown in mature fruits) or conspicuously red-purple, the nectary on midrib present or absent. Corolla yellow, each petal with a small to large red, brownish, or purple basal spot, the petals obovate. 3.5-4.5 cm long x 2-4 cm wide, ventrally glabrous, dorsally sparsely fine stellate-pUbescent, or sometimes with a few straight hairs. Stamens 5 to numerous, monadelphous, forming a staminal column; staminal column included or exerted, 20-40 mm long, red,-red-brown, or red-purple below, cream or tan-yellow above, the filaments 0.5-3 mm, the anthers monothecal, yellow-tan or red-purple. Pollen globose, echinate, cream, tan, brown, orange or red. Ovary superior, placentation axile; ovules 3 or more per cell; style branches exserted to 5 mm beyond the staminal column.

Fruit: Loculicidally dehiscent capsules 12-20 mm long X 12-17 mm in diam.; glabrous (?) or sparsely to densely appressed-pubescent; the beak 1-3 mm long; glabrous. Seeds 3-5 mm long X 2-3 mm wide; angular-reniform; light brown to brown with honeycombed markings and pectinate scales; the funiculus small; inconspicuous; light- to dark-brown; sometimes with a fringe of hairs.

Ploidy: 2n = 144*; ca. 140*

Habitat: Rare and local in dry forest and shrubland; on most of the main islands.

Elevation Range: 130–800 m.