Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Sparingly branched shrubs.

Stems: Stems sharply angled or slightly winged, glabrous or with a few scattered hairs.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Opposite. Blades elliptic–obovate, 4–10.5 cm long, 2–4.5 cm wide. Apex abruptly short-acuminate. Base cuneate. Surfaces glabrous, Leaves pale and glaucous on lower surface, coriaceous at least when dry. Petioles 0–1 cm long. Stipules interpetiolar, may also be intrapetiolar, membranous, connate into a cup 5–9 mm long, distinct from petioles, caducous.

Flowers: Flowers in inflorescences terminal, flowers up to 15 in sessile cymes, peduncles 0–6 mm long, pedicels 8–11 mm long, elongating to 10–13 mm long in fruit, bracts linear–filiform, 5–7 mm long, bracteoles filiform, ca. 4 mm long, glabrous. Flowers bisexual (perfect) or functionally unisexual, actinomorphic. Calyx 5-merous, lobes subequal, sepals united at base, oblong to oblong–lanceolate, 6–11 mm long, 2–3 mm wide, imbricate, conspicuously 5–7–nerved, inner surface of calyx often with colleters at the base. Corolla 5-merous, orange, 15–16 mm long, the tube not or slightly flaring, 9–10 mm long, short–hirsute externally, the lobes narrowly deltate, 5–7 mm long, apex 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, 2– or 3-locular, sometimes partitions imperfect in upper part of ovary, glabrous or slightly pubescent near apex, pistillode glabrous; ovules numerous, amphitropous, placentation axiles; style terminal, mostly short; stigma clavate, ellipsoid, to globular, sometimes ± oblong, about as large as ovary.

Fruit: Capsules ovoid–trigonous; 9–14 mm long; 6–8 mm in diameter; 3–valved; septicidal to sub–septifragal; valves obscurely to conspicuously keeled near apex; keel 0.5–1.5 mm wide; apex with a beak 1.5–2.5 mm long; maturing to green; with or without a black–purple tinge; usually becoming brown–black when over–mature. Seeds ± 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; with saccharose or hemicellulose; embryo small; straight.

Ploidy:

Habitat: Occurring on hummocks in bogs and probably bog margins.

Elevation Range: 1,060–1,390 m.