Kirk's Noseburn
Tragia kirkiana
Heavily grazed rocky slope near Voi, Kenya. 28 May 2017.
LEAVES: Leaves and herbaceous stems have numerous stinging hairs. Shape is roughly triangular with toothed margins and heart-shaped base.
SUBSHRUB: A number of herbaceous, branching stems from a woody base usually less than 50 cm tall, but much longer, more slender stems may climb over other plants.
FLOWERS: Small green and red separate male and female flowers; A pair of pinnately lobed bracts cover the developing seeds of the female flowers with even more stinging hairs.
RANGE: More than 150 species of Tragia have been described and are distributed in tropical and subtropical habitats world wide.
FRUIT: Three-parted capsules, but these are hard to check because of the stinging hairs.
ARMED: Stinging hairs might deter the face and nose of grazing mammals.