Pavonia sepioides

A shrub native to western South America and Venezuela, it belongs to the Malvaceae family. It grows about three to six and a half feet tall. Its slender stems may have narrow rows of curved hairs, and the pointed, oval to lance-shaped leaves have toothed margins. Solitary yellow flowers arise from the leaf axils. Narrow bracts surround the calyx, and the styles extend beyond the staminal column. Each fruit segment bears three sharp, backward-barbed spines. In Colombia, the species occurs in the Andes. It has been introduced to Uganda and recorded growing as a weed in a eucalyptus plantation in Karnataka, India. Photographed in Colombia.