Corchorus tridens L., Mant. Alt. 566 .1771; Masters in Fl. Brit. India 1: 398. 1874. C. trilocularis auct. non L. 1767: Burm. f., Fl. Ind. 125. t. 37, f. 2. 1768. C. burmanni DC., Prodr.1:505. 1824.

Herbs, annual, erect or somewhat suberect, 30 - 60 cm high, glabrous. Leaves 1.5 - 12 x 0.4 - 2.2 cm, oblong-lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, acute at apex, serrate, basal most serrations prolonged into filiform processes or not, glabrous except for sparsely hairy nerves, 3 - 4-nerved; petioles up to 18 mm long, hairy; stipules 3 - 4 mm long, setaceous. Flowers 1 - 4, in leaf-opposed, shortly pedunculate cymes, subsessile, ca 1 cm across; bracts 3 - 4 mm long, subulate. Sepals 4 - 5 mm long, linear-oblong, apiculate. Petals yellow, 3 - 4 mm long, oblong, obtuse. Stamens 10 - 15. Carpels 3; ovary cylindric, hairy, 3-loculed; style short; stigma sparsely papillate. Capsules 1.5 - 4 cm long, ca 3 mm across, cylindric, often curved, terminating into 3, 2-fid, spreading tips, glabrous, 3-loculed; locules aseptate between seeds. Seeds angular, obliquely truncate at both ends, black.

Fl. & Fr. Almost throughout the year.

Distrib. Almost throughout the year.

Pantropical.