Hedyotis novoguineensis Merr. & L.M.Perry

Merrill, E.D. & Perry, L.M. (1945) Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 26: 4. Type: BRITISH NEW GUINEA: Wuroi, Oriomo River, Brass 5831, Jan. 1934, alt. 10 m., small savanna clearing (plant with pale purple flowers).

Erect to decumbent perennial. Stems up to 50 cm tall, tetragonous and sparsely scabrous. Interpetiolar stipules ca. 1.5 mm long, triangular and many lobed having the midlobe scabrid.

Leaves thinly textured, 2-3 x 0.7-1.5 cm, glabrous above but sparsely pubescent below; petiole 1-2 mm long and pubescent.

Inflorescences axillary, subsessile many-flowered fascicles. Sepals ciliate, fused only at the base. Corolla lobes glabrous inside, with long hairs at upper half of the lobe on the outside. Corolla drops off as a whole.

Fruit ovoid-subglobose, ca. 2 mm diam., slightly furrowed, with recurved persistent sepals. Seed dark brown, angular, ca. 0.5 mm long, with a reticulated testa.

Features not available.

Occurs in NEQ from Mount Windsor to Tully in the south. Altitudinal range from near sea level to 660 m. Grows in rainforest, sclerophyll forest, Allocasuarina-Meleleuca woodland, Melaleuca swamp and in grassland. Also from New Guinea.