Vernonia melleri Oliv. & Hiern var. melleri

Erect perennial herb with annual stems, simple or sparsely branches, up to 1.5 m tall, growing from a woody rootstock, crowned with hairs. Leaves obovate or narrowly oblanceolate up to 19 cm long, often mucronate at the apex, roughly pubescent on both sides, venation prominent below; margin almost entire or with widely spaced teeth. Capitula 4-21, terminal. Involucral bracts numerous, green to purplish, drying straw-coloured. Florets bright blue to purplish.

Angola, Botswana, DRC, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe