Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Shrubs 1.5–3.5 m tall.

Stems: Stems terete (cylindrical) to weakly angled, hispidulous or glabrate.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Opposite. Blades elliptic to broadly elliptic, sometimes elliptic–obovate or elliptic–ovate, (3.5–)5–14.5 cm long, (1.5–)3–7.4 cm wide. Apex abruptly short-acuminate to acuminate, ± slightly falcate. Base subtruncate to cuneate. Upper surfaces glabrous; lower surfaces sparsely hirtellous, sometimes with only a few scattered hairs or glabrous; medium green on upper surface; lower surfaces pale green, thin and coriaceous. Margins flat, entire or rarely toothed. Upper surface with veins slightly impressed. Petioles (0.5–)1–2 cm long. Stipules interpetiolar, may also be intrapetiolar, membranous, connate into a cup 6–11 mm long, quickly splitting, adnate to lower few mm of petioles.

Flowers: Flowers 3–10(–15) in terminal, dense, glabrous, sessile cymes, pedicels 1–3 mm long, bracts linear–filiform, 6–7 mm long, bracteoles filiform, ca. 6 mm long. Flowers bisexual (perfect) or functionally unisexual, actinomorphic. Calyx 5-merous, sepals united at base, lobes slightly unequal, inner ones narrower and more membranous, oblong–lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, sometimes the outermost ovate, 6–15 mm long, 3–4 mm wide, veins obscure, glabrous, margins hyaline, imbricate in bud, inner surface of Calyx often with colleters at the base, margin mostly fimbriate. Corolla 5-merous, orangish yellow, 18–19 mm long, white, often with yellow or green tinge, campanulate to rotate, the tube gradually narrowed toward mouth, 10–11 mm long, glabrous externally, sparsely white hirtellous within, hairs (when present) in throat, mouth, and often extending on to lobes, sometimes also near the base of the tube; the lobes linear-lanceolate, 8–10 mm long, apex attenuate-acute; lobes imbricate or contorted in bud. Stamens 5, alternipetalous, attached to mouth of corolla, exserted, usually recurved after anthesis, glabrous or hairy; filaments mostly short; anthers 2-celled, introrse, connective often extended to form an apical appendage, opening by longitudinal slits. Ovary superior or partly inferior, carpels hairy or glabrous, 2– or 3-locular, sometimes partitions imperfect in upper part of ovary; ovules numerous, amphitropous, placentation axile; style terminal, mostly short; stigma clavate, ellipsoid, to globular, sometimes ± oblong, about as large as ovary.

Fruit: Capsules white and slightly fleshy at maturity; narrowly ovoid–ellipsoid or sometimes narrowly obovoid–ellipsoid; compressed; 20–30 mm long; 2–valved; valves dorsally keeled; keel 1.5–2 mm wide; apex with a beak 1–2.5 mm long; septicidal to sub–septifragal; maturing to green; with or without a black–purple tinge; usually becoming brown–black when over–mature. Seeds pale brown; 1.5–2 mm long; ± winged at both ends or all around; embedded in juicy orange to red pulp; numerous; ellipsoid to subglobular; intruded on the hilar side; surface mostly minutely papillose to areolate; brown to black; endosperm thick; fleshy; oily; proteinaceous; wilh saccharose or hemicellulose; embryo small; straight.

Ploidy:

Habitat: Occurring in diverse mesic forest to wet forest.

Elevation Range: 1,090–1,220 m.