Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Shrubs 2–4.5 m tall, sometimes climbing.

Stems: Stems terete (cylindrical), ± divaricately branched, glabrous.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Opposite. Blades oblanceolate to elliptic or sometimes elliptic–ovate, 5–14 cm long, 1.7–4 cm wide. Apex acute to short-acuminate. Base broadly to narrowly cuneate. Surfaces glabrous; blades membranous. Margins entire, flat. Upper surface with veins scarcely impressed, inconspicuous. Petioles 0.7–1.5 cm long, glabrous. Stipules connate into a cup 1–5 mm long, closely appressed to the stem, glabrous, persistent.

Flowers: Flowers in inflorescences terminal, flowers 3–9 or more in pendulous or erect, compound, paniculate, glabrous cymes, peduncles 5–20 mm long, pedicels 6–9(–15) mm long, elongating to 10–30 mm long in fruit, bracts narrowly oblanceolate, margins ciliate, 1.2–1.5 mm long, bracteoles narrowly deltate to filiform, 0.5–1 mm long. Flowers bisexual (perfect) or functionally unisexual, actinomorphic. Calyx 5-merous, sepals united at base, lobes ovate–deltate, imbricate, 1.1–2.5 mm long, 0.8–1.3 mm wide, nerves inconspicuous, glabrous, margins scarious, minutely ciliate, apex acute, inner surface of Calyx often with colleters at the base, margin mostly fimbriate. Corolla 5-merous, campanulate to rotate, white (1 observation) or pale greenish yellow (1 observation), 9–11 mm long, the tube narrowly urceolate, 7–8 mm long, the lobes narrowly deltate, 2–3.5 mm long, involute toward apex, apex acute, white pilose on the tube within and on lower part of lobes; lobes imbricate or contorted in bud. Stamens 5-merous, Stamens alternipetalous, attached to mouth of corolla, exserted, usually recurved after anthesis, glabrous or hairy; filaments mostly short; anthers dithecal, 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, glabrous, 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 lanceoloid to ovoid; 9–20 mm long; 2(3)–valved; valves longitudinally striate; not keeled; apex with a beak 0.7–1.2 mm long; septicidal to sub–septifragal; whitish green; 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: Apparently rare in diverse mesic forest and mesic valleys.

Elevation Range: 240–1,190 m.