A many-stemmed straggling shrub up to 4 m. tall, sometimes developing short shoots.. Older branches sometimes spinescent.. Young shoots sparingly to densely crisped-puberulous or tomentose.. Petioles up to 2.5 cm. long, evenly to densely crisped-puberulous; leaf-blade ovate to elliptic-ovate, 4–8 cm. long, 2–4.5 cm. wide, obtuse and mucronulate, rounded at the base, serrate to shallowly crenate-serrate, thinly chartaceous, 3(–5)-nerved from the base, lateral nerves 4–6 pairs, sparingly pubescent or subglabrous on the midrib and with dense tufts of hairs in the axils of the main nerves beneath, otherwise glabrous.. Stipules triangular-subulate, keeled, 2 mm. long, ciliate.. Inflorescences racemose, borne on long and short shoots, up to 16 cm. long, with the upper half, two-thirds or most of the inflorescence ♀, and the rest ♂; axis sparingly puberulous or quite glabrous; ♂ and ♀ bracts alike, triangular-ovate, 1 mm. long, entire, ciliate.. Male flowers shortly pedicellate; buds subglobose, glabrous.. Female flowers long-pedicellate, the pedicels up to 5 mm. long in fruit, articulate; sepals 5, ovate-lanceolate, 1 mm. long, acute, subglabrous; ovary subtrilobate, 0.5 mm. diameter, echinate, the spine-like processes gland-tipped, ± glabrous; styles ± free to the base, 5 mm. long, pectinate-laciniate, white.. Fruits trilobate, 2.5 mm. long, 4 mm. diameter, densely glandular-echinate, glabrous.. Seeds subglobose, 1.5 mm. long, 1.5 mm. wide, smooth, brown, with a small apical caruncle.
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