Pavonia burchellii (DC.) R.A.Dyer
Althaea burchellii DC., P. kraussiana Hochst., P. patens (Andrews) Chiov.
Small shrub 0.5-1.2 m in height. Stems highly branched, ascending or procumbent, pubescent. Leaf blade 3-7 × 3-6 cm, generally ovate, with 3 shallow lobes, crenate-dentate, paler on the underside, more pubescent and hairy along the veins than on the upper side, cordate base, obtuse apex. Petiole 1.5-5 cm, pilose. Stipules 3-5 mm, filiform, pilose, caducous. Flowers 1.8-2 cm in diameter, axillary; pedicel 4-7 cm, slender, pilose, articulated near the apex. Epicalyx parts 0.9-1.1 × 0.5-0.6 cm, generally elliptical, obtuse, pubescent, ciliated along the margin, persistent and accrescent in fruit. Calyx slightly shorter than the epicalyx, pubescent. Petals 1.2 × 0.8 cm, orange-yellow. Fruit 0.8 × 1 cm; mericarps 8 × 4 mm, glabrous or glabrescent, reticulated.
Flowering:
In autumn-winter.
Fruiting:
In winter-spring.
Habitat:
Shaded areas in a great variety of soils, often sandy and sandy-loamy, open forests, savannahs and thickets; often on rocky slopes in relatively humid areas, riparian forests, secondary forests, ditches. From sea level to 2,500 m in altitude.
Distribution:
East tropical Africa, reaching in the S to South Africa and, in the N, to Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula.
Conservation status:
Fairly rare species but widely distributed. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.