Blepharis maderaspatensis (L.) Heyne ex Roth

maderaspatensis: from the Madras region of India

Procumbent or scrambling perennial or rarely annual herb. Stems up to 2.5 m long, sometimes rooting at the nodes, often finely hairy. Leaves ovate, elliptic or slightly obovate, 2-10 cm long, more or less hairy, particularly along the veins, often greyish below; margin entire or with a few scattered teeth. Flowers solitary or in clusters of up to 15 flowers. Bracts greenish-brown, sometimes with purple veins, elliptic-obovate to almost round, puberescent to almost hairless, ending in a recurved bristle with 4-10 barbed bristles, up to 7 mm long, on each side of the margin. Corolla white or cream, with mauve or purple veins, 10-27 mm long; lip oblong-obovate, 4-13 mm wide, lobes more or less of same length, central lobe narrower than side lobes.

Common

Widespread in tropical Africa, South Africa, Madagascar and extending to Asia