Shrub or woody vine to 2 m; twigs slender, puberulent in longitudinal lines. Leaves to 14 cm long, ovate, apically acute, basally rounded or obtuse, 7-12 on each side, puberulent along the veins on both sides and beneath with scattered short hairs on the lamina; drying with a grey-brown cast; petioles 1-1.5 cm long, puberulent; minor leaves mostly wanting. Inflorescence terminal or axillary, a long-stalked, many-flowered open panicle, the peduncles to 10 cm long, puberulent, more so near the apex, bracts to 1 cm long, oblong, scattered but larger, broader and more numerous on terminal inflorescences; flowers sessile in the axils of short stalked bracteoles, the bracteoles 1-2 mm long or sometimes foliose and ovate and reaching 10 mm long, puberulent. Flowers conspicuous, the calyx 3-4 mm long, tubular, puberulent outside, the lobes short-deltoid, tomentose out-side and pubescent near the apex within, becoming 5-7 mm long in fruit; corolla greenish white, the tube 20-25 mm long, slender, expanded slightly near the apex, glabrous inside and out; stamens subequal, the filaments 1 Tmm free, straight, edentate, glabrous; style pubescent near the apex, the stigma included. Fruit ovoid, glistening black, 9-12 mm long.
Home