Threelocule Corchorus

Herbs annual or perennial, many branched, pilose. Stipule subulate; petiole 0.5-1 cm, pilose; leaf blade elliptic or ovate-oblong, 1.5-3 × 1-2 cm, hairy only on veins abaxially, glabrous adaxially, lateral basal veins 1/3 as long as leaf blade, base broadly rounded, margin crenate, apex obtuse. Cymes opposite to leaves, 1-3-flowered; peduncle very short. Sepals ca. 5 mm. Petals nearly spatulate, 5-6 mm. Stamens 15-20; filaments 5-6 mm. Ovary 3-loculed. Capsule 1-3-fascicled, long cylindrical, 5-7 × ca. 0.3 cm, apex beaked. Seeds separated by septum. Fl. Aug, fr. Sep.

Moist shady places, weed of cultivated fields. NW Yunnan [Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Indonesia (Java), Pakistan, Sri Lanka; tropical and N Africa, S Asia, Australia].

trilocularis: with 3 loculi (chambers in the ovary).

Branched annual herb, up to 1 m tall, usually erect, branches sometimes decumbent after damage from browsing. Young branches purplish, sparsely hairy. Leaves oblong to lanceolate, up to 12 × 3.5 cm, hairless or hairy, particularly on the veins; margins crenate-serrate with a long bristle on the 2 lowermost teeth. Flowers in 1-3 flowered leaf-opposed clusters; sepals narrowly lanceolate, as long as the petals. Fruit a slender more or less erect, cylindric, many-seeded capsule, straight or slightly curved, up to 7 cm long, 3-4-angled with a rough surface.

Widespread in Africa and Asia.