Home
It can be a shrub 1 m tall or a tree 12 m tall. It has many stems from the base and flexible branches. The bark is smooth with small raised dots. The leaves vary in size depending on rainfall. They can be 0.8-1.3 cm long or 8 cm long. They are sword shaped and papery, Sometimes the leaves are widest at the base. The leaf stalks can be 8 cm long. The surface of the leaves crinkles soon after picking. Sometimes the branches have spines. The male and female flowers are usually carried on the same spike. They are small and greenish-yellow. The fruit is a 3 celled capsule and the seed round.
Leaf blades 1–8(9) × 0.5–5(5.5) cm, elliptic-ovate to rhombic-ovate, obtuse or acuminate at the apex, crenate or crenate-serrate except at the base, wide-cuneate to subtruncate at the base, membranous, glabrous or sparingly to evenly (var. pilosior) pubescent or villous on both surfaces, and sometimes also puberulous along the midrib above, 3(5)-nerved from the base; lateral nerves in 2–4 pairs.
Inflorescences up to 3.5 cm long, spicate, axillary, androgynous mostly with clusters of male flowers and a solitary basal female flower, or the lower inflorescences all male and with solitary axillary female flowers in the upper axils; male bracts minute; female bracts accrescent to 5 × 10 mm, spathaceous, transversely ovate, shallowly 5–7-lobed, nervose, 1-flowered.
Monoecious, scrambling shrub or tree to 5 m, bark velvety on young parts. Leaves long-petioled, ovate, toothed, finely hairy when young. Flowers in bisexual, axillary spikes, females 1 or 2 at base.
Female flowers sessile; sepals 3, minute, ovate, acute, pilose; ovary 0.5 mm in diameter, 3-lobed to subglobose, densely setose; styles 3–5 mm long, shortly united at the base, laciniate, whitish.
Male flowers: pedicels 1 mm long, capillary; buds somewhat knobbly, glabrous; anthers white.
Stems minutely puberulous, soon glabrescent, or (var. pilosior) densely pubescent.
Stipules 3–4 mm long, linear-lanceolate, ± glabrous, persistent, light brown.
A many-stemmed, much-branched spreading shrub or small tree up to 5 m tall.
Fruits 2 × 3 mm, 3-lobed, echinulate, pubescent.
Seeds 1.5 × 1.5 mm, globose, smooth.
Petioles 0.5–5 cm long, slender.
Plants usually monoecious.
Bark silver-grey.
