Pavonia sepium

A shrub native to western and southern South America, it belongs to the Malvaceae family. It grows about three to six and a half feet tall, with slender stems that may carry rows of curved hairs. The pointed leaves are oval to lance-shaped and have toothed margins. Yellow flowers grow singly in the leaf axils or on short lateral branches. Each flower has five petals and a central staminal column, with the styles extending beyond it. The fruit divides into segments, each bearing three backward-barbed spines. It grows in gallery forests along rivers. Photographed in Panama.