Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Slender or robust trees 6–12 m tall, new growth densely brown tomentose.

Stems: Stems 1.75–6 mm in diameter directly below apex, internodes up to 12 mm long.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Alternate. Blades obovate, elliptic, or subovate, (8.5–)15–30 cm long, 2.6–12 cm wide. Apex acute to rounded and usually retuse as well. Base acute to rounded. Surfaces glabrous or pubescent and stiffly coriaceous. Margins entire. Lateral veins 10–20 pairs. Marginal ribs strongly and prominently developed. Petioles 1–11 cm long. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers in single axillary panicles, these 1–2 branched, reddish brown pubescent or glabrous. Panicles 13–50 cm long, often compound, with 8–25 primary branches 5–20 cm long. Each panicle branch subtended by 1 bract, peduncles 2–10 cm long. Gynodioecious (with bisexual (perfect)–flowered plants and female plants in each population). flowers several to 20–30 per branch, internodes between individual flowers 0.8–11 mm long. Calyx of 5 sepals, distinct, imbricate, subequal; 1.5–2.5 mm long, 3–5-veined. Corolla (petals) absent. Stamens and staminodes 5; filaments connate at base to form a short, membranous tube with short, rounded flaps of tissue alternating with the filaments; anthers exserted at anthesis. Ovary superior, globose or urceolate, 1.5–2 mm long; style absent or very short; stigmas 2, straight or recurved, nearly as long as the ovary, with glands on the inner surface.

Fruit: Indehiscent utricle. Seeds black and shiny; lenticular ca. 1.5 mm long.

Ploidy:

Habitat: Occuring in mesic forest.

Elevation Range: 110–770 m.