Glossostylis avensis Bentham, Scroph. Ind. 49. 1835; Alectra dentata (Bentham) Kuntze; A. indica Bentham; Hymenospermum dentatum Bentham; Melasma avense (Bentham) Handel-Mazzetti; Micrargeria formosana (Hayata) Hayata; Sopubia formosana Hayata.

Annuals, 10-50 cm tall. Stems basally woody, simple or few branched, hairy. Leaves sessile or subsessile; leaf blade broadly ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 2-3 cm, papery, densely short hairy, adaxially sometimes setose when mature, base cuneate, margin with 2-6 pairs of coarse triangular teeth, apex obtuse to acuminate. Racemes basally lax, apically dense. Bracteoles linear-oblong, narrow, longer to slightly shorter than calyx, hairy. Calyx ca. 5 mm, membranous, barbate; lobes triangular, nearly as long as tube. Corolla yellow, ca. 6-8 mm; tube broadly campanulate; lobes suborbicular, spreading; lower lobe slightly larger than other 4. Stamens inserted near base of corolla tube; filaments of 2 anterior stamens with long multicellular glandular hairs. Stigma glandular velutinous. Seeds terete, to 1 mm; seed coat reticulate. Fl. and fr. Aug-Nov.

Grassland on mountain slopes, sparse forests; 700-2100 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Taiwan, Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Indonesia (Java), Myanmar, Philippines, Sikkim].