''Melhania ovata'' is a plant in the family Malvaceae.

Description

''Melhania ovata'' grows as a

suffrutex A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or dwarf shrub is a short shrub, and is a woody plant. Prostrate shrub is a related term. "Subshrub" is often used interchangeably with "bush".Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Der ...

(subshrub) or shrub up to tall. The elliptic to

ovate Ovate may refer to: *Ovate (egg-shaped) leaves, tepals, or other botanical parts *Ovate, a type of prehistoric stone hand axe *Ovates, one of three ranks of membership in the Welsh Gorsedd *Vates In modern English, the nouns vates () and ovat ...

leaves are tomentose above and measure up to long. Inflorescences are two to three-flowered or have solitary flowers, on a stalk measuring up to long. The flowers have yellow petals.

Distribution and habitat

''Melhania ovata'' is native to tropical Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and Pakistan. In Pakistan, it was known from Balochistan but rare and considered possibly introduced. Its habitat is in grassland and wooded bushland at altitudes of about .

References

ovata Flora of Africa Flora of the Arabian Peninsula Flora of Pakistan Plants described in 1799 Taxa named by Antonio José Cavanilles {{Malvaceae-stub