Tree, (5-)15-3 6 m by 10-50 cm ø, occasionally fluted or with stout buttresses; bark greyish brown, smooth or finely fiissured, (always?) flaky. Branchlets initially densely set with fulvous, small, stellate hairs and larger bundle-hairs, or glabrous from the beginning; terminal bud ovoid, 3-4 by 2-3 mm, scales ovate-acute or linear. Stipules 6-8 by 1-2 mm. Leaves thick-coriaceous, 8-22½ by 4-8 cm (index 2.1-3.6), widest about the middle, sometimes above, or below; base attenuate or rounded-acute, apex somewhat rounded and acu-tish to rather abruptly acuminate with a sharp tip ½-2 cm; surfaces glabrous, ± discolorous, above glossy and olive-greenish, beneath duller and brownish; midrib strongly prominent beneath, slightly so above; nerves 9-14 pairs at an angle of 60-80°, subparallel, ascending, arcuating and disappearing towards the margin, thin and subprom-inent on both surfaces, reticulation fine, sca-lariform to irregular, obscure on both surfaces; petiole ¾-2½ cm, adaxially flat or shallowly furrowed. Male rachis 10-15 cm, 1 mm ø; bracts and bracteoles ovate-acute; ♂ flowers in clusters of 3, perianth lobes ovate-rounded, 1 mm long, with dense tomentum outside; stamens 12, filaments 2½-3 mm, anthers 0.25 mm long, pistillode 1-1½ mm ø. Female rachis 10-25 cm by 2-3 mm, bracts ovate-acute; ♀ flowers in clusters of 3, perianth lobes ovate-acute, 1 mm long, with dense tomentum outside, staminodes 12, sometimes considerably developed and producing good pollen grains; ovary rounded-triangular, styles 3, conical, 1-1½ mm. Young cupule ½-1 cm stalked, ovoid-globose, the segments between the 4 sutures covered with spines. Ripe cupules on slender peduncle, obovoid-globose, more or less distinctly 2-4-lobed, 3-3½ by 2-3 cm, wall 1-2 mm thick, outside velvety and more or less densely set with rather sturdy spines 8-13 mm long, simple or in bundles or tree-like branched and arranged in 4-5 concentric bands, fulvous puberulous with glabrous top; inside densely fulvous-tomentose. Fruit 3 per cupule, more or less ovoid-conical, 1½-2 by 1-1½ cm, the scar covering 1/5-¼ part, convex; wall 1 mm thick, the free part densely fulvous-tomentose; cotyledons flat-convex.
More
A tree. It grows 30 m tall. The trunk can be 60 cm across. The bark is smooth and blackish-brown. The leaves are narrowly oval to sword shaped and 7-12 cm long by 4-8 cm wide. Flowers are separately male and female. Male flowering shoots are 7-15 cm long. The female flowering stalks are 8-10 cm long. Female flowers are in clusters or 3. The cups are a flattened round shape and 3-5 cm wide by 2-3 cm high. They are densely hairy. There are 3 nuts in each cup. These are 1-2 cm across.
Home
