Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Shrubs to small trees 1–6 m tall.

Stems: Stems erect to decumbent, 0.5–2 m long.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Opposite. Blades elliptic to lanceolate, broadly ovate, or oblanceolate. Blades obovate to orbicular, occasionally broadly elliptic or oblanceolate. Surfaces densely silky strigose, the hairs apparently multicellular, or glabrous. Surfaces often densely silky strigose, the hairs unicellular. Margins entire. Margins usually entire or nearly so. Pinnately veined. Petiolate. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers in terminal, elongate spikes, these sometimes short and head-like, densely villous or stigose. Flowers bisexual (perfect). Each flower subtended by a persistent scarious bract and 2 scarious bracteoles that fall with the fruit and calyx, these usually with a rigid midrib that extends into a spine tip ca. ½ the bracteole length. Calyx of 5 sepals, unequal to subequal. Corolla (petals) absent. Stamens 2–5, connate at base; anthers dithecal. Ovary superior, 2–3(4)-carpellate, the carpels connate to form a compound, 1-celled ovary; ovule 1, basal (?) placentation; style slender; stigma capitate.

Fruit: Fruit a narrowly obovoid; indehiscent utricle; apex truncate; enclosed by the calyx; sessile. Seeds 1 per fruit; the surface usually lustrous; endosperm essentially absent. seeds lenticular.

Ploidy:

Habitat:

Elevation Range: