Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Trees evergreen, up to 20 m tall, usually dioecious.

Stems: Bark brown, branches glabrous, with sparsely elevated lenticels.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Alternate. Blades broadly ovate, 8-20 × 6-18 cm. Apex acute to acuminate, sinus usually with cupular glands. Base cordate to truncate. Surfaces pubescent when young, only abaxially pubescent along base of nerves at maturity. Margins entire or 2-5-fid. Palmately veined. Petioles 7-17 cm, glabrous, apex with 2 stalked and cupular glands. Stipules caducous.

Flowers: Inflorescences produced with new leaves, usually unisexual. Male flowers: calyx ca. 10 mm, 2- or 3-fid, glabrous; petals obovate, 2-3 cm, base clawed, white or purple-red at base and with purple-red nerve-stripes; stamens 8-10; filaments hairy, outer filaments free, inner filaments connate at and below middle. Female flowers: calyx and petals as in male; ovary densely brown pubescent, 3-locular; styles 3, bipartite.

Fruit: Drupes ovoid; 3-5 cm in diam.; longitudinally 3-angular; between angles with sparsely reticulate wrinkles; 3-seeded. Seeds compressed globose; seed coat thicker; verrucose.

Ploidy:

Habitat:

Elevation Range: