| Type | Indigenous |
|---|---|
| Family | Malvaceae |
| Local Name | Vazhukal |
| Habit | Small sized tree |
| Botanical Features | Trees, to 15 m; branches stout, terete; young branches stellately rusty tomentose. Leaves simple, simply lobed, alternate, stipulate; stipules 3 mm long, free, lateral, linear, stellate pubescent, caducous; petiole 10-80 mm long, slender, minutely stellate tomentose; lamina 4-21 x 2-18 cm, broadly ovate to rhomboid, base truncate or cuneate, apex acute, margin entire, coriaceous; 5-nerved from base, palmate, prominent, with a nectary at the base of the midrib beneath and sometimes also on the basal nerves, lateral nerves 3-4 pairs, pinnate, regular, prominent, intercostae scalariform, prominent. Flowers bisexual, yellow, in terminal compact racemes or panicles; pedicels, minutely stellate pubescent; involucellar bracts ; calyx divided to the middle, lobes 5, 6 x 4 mm, ovate-triangular as long as involucellar bracts; corolla yellow with purple centre, 2 cm across; petals 5, 2 x 1 cm narrowly obovate, connate at base, minutely stellate pubescent externally ; anthers reniform, 17-20; filaments slender, 6 mm long, sparsely pubescent; ovary superior; style 1.5 cm long, slender, 2-branched towards apex, densely hairy; stigma peltate. Fruit a capsule, brownish-black. |