''Melhania suluensis'' is a plant in the family Malvaceae, native to southern Africa.

Description

''Melhania suluensis'' 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) tall, with many branches. The leaves measure up to long and are thinly

stellate Stellate, meaning star-shaped, may refer to: * Stellate cell * Stellate ganglion * Stellate reticulum * Stellate veins * Stellate trichomes (hairs) on plants * Stellate laceration or incision Wound#Open * Stellate fan-shaped Espalier (one form ...

tomentose. The lower leaf surface is silvery-grey, the upper is darker. Inflorescences are one or two-flowered, on a stalk measuring up to long. The flowers have yellow petals.

Distribution and habitat

''Melhania suluensis'' is native to South Africa (

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

, Northern Provinces) and

Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

. Its habitat is in

alluvial soils Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Allu ...

or on bushveld slopes, to altitudes of about .

References

suluensis Flora of KwaZulu-Natal Flora of the Northern Provinces Flora of Swaziland Plants described in 1946 {{Malvaceae-stub