Shrubs, vines, or small trees, 4-6 m tall. Branches pale purplish brown when dry, almost terete, pith pale red; new twigs slightly flat, with grooves, densely light reddish brown pubescent with simple trichomes, later glabrescent. Stipular spines to 5 mm, stout, recurved, often aborted or absent on flowering twigs. Petiole 1-2 cm, trichomes like those on branches; leaf blade elliptic, elliptic-lanceolate, or ovate, 7-12 × 3-7 cm, often tan-colored when dry, glabrous but abaxially slightly shortly pubescent when young but glabrescent, midvein abaxially raised and adaxially impressed, secondary veins 6-8 on each side of midvein and adaxially indistinct, reticulate veins not obvious, base broadly cuneate to rounded, apex rounded, obtuse, or sometimes acute. Inflorescences axillary subumbels or axillary and on flowering twigs and together forming a terminal panicle, 3-10-flowered; peduncle 2-6 cm, with dense tan trichomes. Pedicel 1.5-5 cm, trichomes like those on peduncle. Sepals 7-9 mm; sepals of outer whorl nearly orbicular, inwardly concave, covering inner whorl, leathery, outside densely tan tomentose; sepals of inner whorl nearly flat, thin. Petals white, obovate, 2(-3) cm × 7-9 mm, membranous, inside tomentose. Stamens 28-36; filaments ca. 1 cm; anthers 3-4 mm. Gynophore 2-4 cm, glabrous; ovary ovoid, 2-4 mm, glabrous; placentae 4; ovules many. Fruit tan when dry, globose, 2.5-4 × 2-3.5 cm, smooth, apex acute to shortly beaked; fruiting pedicel and gynophore together 7-9 cm, 3-5 mm in diam., thickened, woody. Seeds 4-8 per fruit, tan, 1.5-2 × ca. 1 cm, smooth. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Sep-Nov.
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