Shrubs or trees, 1.5-5.5 m tall. Second-year branches brown hirsute; current year branchlets gray spreading villous. Petiole 5-10 mm, yellowish brown villous to brown hirsute; leaf blade elliptic-ovate, elliptic, or oblong-elliptic, 10-17 × 5-8 cm, leathery, abaxially pale green, brown glandular punctate, appressed villous but densely spreading villous along midvein, and becoming yellowish brown to brown when dry, adaxially dark green, shiny, and glabrous, midvein abaxially elevated and adaxially impressed, secondary veins 8-10 on each side of midvein, abaxially raised, and adaxially slightly impressed, base rounded to subtruncate, margin serrulate, apex acuminate to caudate-acuminate. Flowers axillary or subterminal, solitary, 5-6 cm in diam., subsessile. Bracteoles (4-)6-8, lunate to semiorbicular, 2.5-7 mm, crustaceous, outside gray puberulent, inside glabrous, margin scarious and ciliolate. Sepals 5 or 6, ± persistent, broadly ovate to suborbicular, 1.3-1.5 cm, crustaceous, outside gray puberulent, inside glabrous, margin scarious and ciliolate. Petals 9-13, lemon yellow; outer 4 or 5 petals broadly obovate, 2-2.5 cm; inner petals obovate-elliptic to long obovate, 3-4 cm, outside gray puberulent, basally connate for 3-5 mm. Stamens numerous, 2.5-3 cm; outer filament whorl connate for basal ca. 1/3, distinct part pilose. Ovary yellowish tomentose, 3(or 4)-loculed; style 3 or 4 grooved, apically 3(or 4)-lobed to-parted for 5-10 mm. Capsule oblate with 3 longitudinal grooves, ca. 3.5 cm in diam., 3-loculed with 1 or 2 seeds per locule. Seeds dark brown, semiglobose to globose. Fl. Jan-Feb, fr. Oct. 2n = 30*.
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