Tree up to 20 m, with few branches and a small, compact crown. Bole up to 15 m, up to 1 m in circumference. Outer bark smooth, green, brown, reddish-grey or black; inner bark pale yellow or red; cambium white, sapwood pale yellow. Twigs densely covered with dark orange-brown peltate scales which are up to 0.3 mm in diam, and have an irregular margin, with some scales which have a dark orange-brown centre and paler margin interspersed. Leaves imparipinnate, up to 79 cm long and 58 cm wide; petiole 7–15 cm, petiole, rachis and petiolules densely covered with scales like those on the twigs. Leaflets 9–13, 7.5–30 by 4–13 cm, coriaceous, obovate, recurved at the margin, acuminate at the apex, cuneate at the base, the lower surface of the leaflet with numerous scales like those on the twigs, the scales evenly distributed and visible to the naked eye as tiny dark and pale brown spots; veins 10–17 on each side of the midrib; petiolules 5–19 mm. Inflorescence up to 32 cm long and 22 cm wide, in the axils of c. 3 leaves near the apex of the shoot; peduncle 1.5–10 cm, the peduncle, rachis and branches densely covered with scales like those on the twigs. Male flowers c. 1.5 mm long and 2 mm wide, depressed-globose; pedicels up to 1.5 mm, the calyx and pedicels with numerous pale peltate scales which have a fimbriate margin. Petals 5. Staminal tube c. 1.2 mm long and 1.5 mm wide, depressed globose, the aperture c. 0.5 mm in diam.; anthers 5, inserted about half way up the staminal tube and just protruding through the aperture, with a few simple hairs at the base and apex of each anther and on the inner surface of the staminal tube, the staminal tube with longitudinal, thickened ribs, one below each anther and one between each pair of adjacent anthers. Female flowers c. 3 mm long and 4 mm wide, depressed-globose; sessile. Petals 6, thick and fleshy, with few orange-brown or pale orange-brown peltate scales which have a fimbriate margin and a dark central spot on the outer surface. Staminal tube c. 1.8 mm long, 1.7–2 mm wide with a few pale brown stellate scales on the outer surface, the aperture 0.5 mm in diam.; otherwise like the male. Infructescence c. 16 cm long and 10 cm wide. Fruits c. 4 cm long and wide, subglobose, sometimes with a small beak, yellowish-brown, in-dehiscent, densely covered with pale orange-brown peltate scales on the outer surface; latex white. Seed 1, with a fleshy translucent aril; testa dark brown.
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