Decaschistia trilobata Wight,Icon. Pl. Ind. Orient. 1: t. 88. 1840; Masters in Fl. Brit. India 1: 332. 1874.

Shrubs; stems and young branches densely tomentose. Leaves subsessile, often unlobed, 3 - 6.5 x 1 - 5 cm, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, acute and mucronate at apex, dentate, veins prominent beneath; lower leaves deeply trilobed, lobes 4 - 8 x 1 - 2.5 cm, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, acute to rounded and 3-nerved at base, acute at apex, elliptical gland present at base on midnerve beneath, densely stellate-tomentose, dark above, paler beneath; petioles 1 - 3 cm long, densely hispid or tomentose by stellate hairs; stipules equal to or longer than petioles, linear, simple or 2 - 3-lobed, hairy. Flowers axillary, solitary or crowded towards apices of branches by reduction of leaves; pedicels ca 1 cm long, hairy. Epicalyx segments 10, 5 - 8 x 1.5 mm, linear to lanceolate, connate at base, stellate-pubescent on both surfaces. Calyx divided to the middle, lobes 8 - 12 x 5 - 7 mm, acute, distinctly 3-nerved, outer surface with long and short simple hairs, inner surface with dense appressed 2-armed stellate hairs. Corolla yellow with purple centre, ca 4 cm across; petals ca 5 x 3 cm, obovate, twisted, densely stellate-hairy outside, glabrous inside. Staminal column 2 - 2.5 cm long, antheriferous throughout. Ovary ovoid, 10-loculed; styles divided at the top into 10 branches of ca 2 mm long, ending in capitate stigmas. Capsules 8 - 10 x 10 - 15 mm, densely hairy, inner surface of valves glossy. Seeds ca 5 x 3 mm, reniform, stellate-pubescent, brownish black.

Fl. & Fr. Oct. - Dec.

Distrib. India: In evergreen and deciduous forests of Western Ghats and Deccan plateau. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Endemic.

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