Helicteres baruensis, or the tornillo de Venezuela ("Venezuelan screw")Colmeiro, Miguel: "Dictionary of the various common names of many usual or notable plants of the old and new world", Madrid, 1871. is a species of plant belonging to the family Malvaceae.
Description It is a shrub that reaches a size of in height. Leaves ovate, sometimes asymmetric, long and wide, apex acute, base cordate; petiole long. Flowers zygomorphic, oblique, with shiny nectaries on the peduncle; calyx tubular-bell-shaped, long and wide, bilabiate; petals ribbon-like, greenish; androgynophore curved, long, tomentose. Capsule spiraled, sometimes straight towards the apex, long and wide, grayish.
Distribution and habitat It is native to the West Indies, where it grows in warm climates, from sea level to in altitude, associated with tropical deciduous and subdeciduous forests.
Properties In Quintana Roo of Mexico, it is used for respiratory ailments, such as cough and asthma.
Taxonomy 'Helicteres baruensis' was described by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin and published in Enumeratio Systematica Plantarum, quas in insulis Caribaeis 30. 1760. Synonymy Helicteres altheifolia Benth. Helicteres mollis C.Presl
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