Haumaniastrum villosum (Benth.) A. J. Paton

Annual or short-lived perennial herb, up to 1.6 m. Stems erect or ascending, quadrangular, sometimes with adventitious roots at base, pubescent, more densely so above; hairs often bluish. Leaves opposite, elliptic or ovate, up to 12 × 5 cm, sparsely pubescent; veins diverging from midvein; margin subentire or serrate, sometimes rolled under; petioles up to 12 mm long. Upper leaves subtending heads up to 5 cm long, uniformly green or blue or yellow to whitish at base or all over. Flowerheads 5-30 mm long, 5-12 mm in diameter with 6-flowered verticils. Calyx 1-2 mm long, extending up to 5 mm in fruit, sometimes purplish, hairy. Corolla white, pink or blue, 3-7 mm long; tube 2.5-5 mm; upper lip 3-lobed with mid-lobe entire or minutely notched. Nutlets dark brown, 1 mm long.

Frequent

Guinea, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Rwanda, Burundi, Zaire, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Madagascar.