Melochia tomentosa var. speciosa (S. Watson) Goldberg
Descripción
The leaves of this variety are small and differ from those of the other varieties in being green on both surfaces and hispidulous rather than tomentulose. The plant is very slender, has inflorescences at few nodes, and the flowers are larger than average for the species.A
Discusión taxonómica
The zygomorphy of the corolla and androecium reported by Arènes for his M. pterocarpa may have been due to differential shrinkage in drying or to an anomalous condition. I dissected flowers from the type specimen and found petal sizes intermediate between the extremes reported by Arènes. The range in length of petals from one corolla was 13.3-14.4 mm. The calyx teeth of M. tomentosa may vary slightly in size in a single calyx.A