Annual or perennial herbs, shrublets or shrubs. Stipules lateral. Leaves alternate, simple (in ours), petiolate. Sepals 5, usually linear and with a short horn just behind the apex, stellately hairy. Petals 5, yellow or orange. Stamens 4-40. Ovary 2-5-locular. Fruit a capsule, usually spherical (rarely ovoid), echinate or setose. Note: mature fruits are essential in naming these species. The measurements of fruit diameters include the aculei. Worldwide: 70 species in the tropics Malawi: 15 taxa. Insects associated with this genus:
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| Species | FZ divisions | Content |
| amuletum Sprague | C,S | Description, Image |
| angolensis Sprague & Hutch. | C | Description |
| annua L. | C | Description, Image |
| glechomoides Welw. ex Mast. | N,S | Description, Image |
| pentandra A. Rich. | N,S | Description, Image |
| pilosa Roth var. effusa (E. Mey. ex Harv.) Wild | S | Description |
| pilosa Roth var. glabrescens Sprague & Hutch. | N,S | Description, Image |
| pilosa Roth var. pilosa | N,C,S | Description, Image |
| pilosa Roth var. tomentosa Szyszyl. ex Sprague & Hutch. | S | Description |
| pilosa Roth [Agg] | N,C,S | Description, Image |
| rhomboidea Jacq. | N,C,S | Description, Image |
| setulosa Mast. | ||
| tomentosa Bojer | C,S | Description, Image |
| trichocarpa Hochst. ex A. Rich. | C,S | |
| welwitschii Mast. [Agg] | C,S | Description, Image |