Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Trees up to 7 m tall.

Stems: Young branches densely brown scurfy, leaf scars prominent.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Alternate. Blades elliptic, ovate, or ovate–lanceolate, 4–15 cm long, 2–7 cm wide. Apex obtuse to acute. Base obtuse and with 2 small circular glands above. Upper surfaces green and glabrous; lower surfaces grayish green, tomentulose, and covered with numerous tiny, red, glandular dots; blades chartaceous. Margins entire or sinuate. Petioles 0.5–2 cm long, densely brown scurfy. Stipules minute, lanceolate, caducous.

Flowers: Flowers in inflorescence of axillary or terminal racemes; axes densely brown scurfy and with numerous tiny, red, glandular dots; staminate flowers crowded in racemes 5–17 cm long that are clustered at the ends of the branches; pistillate flowers widely spaced in racemes 3–10 cm long that are clustered at the ends of the branches. Flowers unisexual pedicels, densely brown scurfy and with numerous tiny, red, glandular dots; staminate flowers pedicels 2–4 mm long pistillate flowers pedicels 1–1.5 mm long. Calyx of staminate flowers 2–4-lobed, 1.3–2 mm long, pistillate flower Calyx 5-lobed, ca. 1 mm long; outer calyx surface densely brown scurfy and with numerous tiny, red, glandular dots. Corolla (petals) absent. Stamens in staminate flower ca. 16–20, 1.2–2.5 mm long. Ovary superior (pistillate flowers); styles joined at base; stigmas covered with numerous tentacular processes.

Fruit: Capsules deeply 3–lobed; 5–7 mm in diameter; covered with a dense; red; powdery scurf. Seeds black; smooth; suborbicular ca.3 mm in diameter.

Ploidy: 2n = 22

Habitat:

Elevation Range: