Perennial Herb or undershrub, 0.25-3 meters tall, with taproot or tuberous root. Stems solid, sometimes hollow; stem apices and petioles with many obliquely downwardly directed long sharp bristles, rarely sparsely hairy or glabrous. Leaves extremely variable in shape and size, petiole 6-30 cm long; lower suborbicular in outline, cordate, lower or palmately 3-7 lobed, upper narrower, hastate or sagittate at the base with linear-oblong or triangular lobes. Flowers axillary, solitary and resemble those of the hibiscus and is usually watermelon pink, although they are sometimes white or cream in colour. Pedicel ± accrescent. Epicalyx segments 7-10, rarely more, free, persistent, linear, filiform, lanceolate or oblong, usually acute, with simple hairs. Calyx outside stellate-tomentose, inside simply sericeous. Petals obovate, at apex rounded, at base fleshy and ciliate by simple hairs, for the rest scattered gland-hairs or glabrous. Staminal column mostly yellow, at base dark purple, glabrous. ovary ovoid, 5-celled, hirsute; style 1, distally 5- branched but branches sometimes united to various degree, hairy; stigmas discoid. Fruit a loculicidally dehiscent, many seeded, ovoid or globose capsule, 2-8 cm long, occasionally fusiform, acuminate with a short rostrum, somewhat angular, usually hispid with simple stiff hairs, often also with short simple hairs and minute stellate hairs, rarely glabrous, black or dark brown; valves chartaceous or coriaceous, inside smooth and shining. Seeds concentrically ribbed, somewhat warty, mostly glabrous, sometimes ferrugineously stellate-tomentose, black-brown. A delicate musk-like odour is produced by the seed coat.

Antitumor (in vitro), aphrodisiac, carminative, antiseptic, increases the secretion of gastric juices and antihysteric (seed), larvicidal activity (roots) and antihyperglycemic.

Plants for a future
Permaculture Information web
PIER
AgroForestryTree Database