Carpanthea

Annual herbs; stems papillate, glistening, woolly. Leaves opposite, decussate, radical or on lower part of flowering branches, blade shorter than petiole, somewhat connate at base, spatulate or lanceolate, obtuse, 3-nerved, with scattered white hairs, margins ciliate with elongated bladder cells. Flowers 1-3, terminal, principally in dichasia, pedicellate, bracteate, 40-70 mm diameter; open during afternoon, closing up tightly into a twisted tip at night. Sepals 5, unequal, 2 outer foliaceous, inner ovate with membranous margin. Petals linear, acute, with ciliate margins, free or nearly so, golden yellow with reddish tinge towards tips, slender. Stamens and staminodes many. Nectary a ring with entire rim. Ovary broader than deep; placentas basal; stigmas 12-18, filiform, acute. Fruit a 12-18-locular capsule, firm, persistent septa overarching locules from sides; placenta raised by a false basal septum, broader than deep; valves narrow, with a pair of closely contiguous expanding keels ending in awns; locules without covering membranes and with narrow exit for seeds. Seeds roundish. x = 9. F lowering late spring to early summer. D istinguishing characters: annual herbs with flat, green leaves; stems hairy; flowers yellow; fruit 12-18-locular with contiguous expanding keels ending in awns.