Tree 5–20 m high; bole to 30 cm diam., fluted below, with small buttresses to 2 m tall. Bark fawn to chocolate, smooth to weakly flaking; inner bark brownish yellow; wood white to pale fawn. Innovations ± pale ferruginous pubescent. Twigs terete, dark brown, elenticellate, glabrous when leafless. Leafy twigs c. 5 mm diam., rarely myrme-cophilous. Leaves to 2 m long, pseudogemmulate; petiole 5–12 cm; rachis brown, pubescent to ultimately glabrous. Leaflets in up to 26 pairs, flushing in up to 3 pairs at once, 8–29 by 4–8 cm, elliptic to elliptic-oblong, subcoriaceous, shiny and glabrous on both surfaces to ferruginous pubescent abaxially, particularly on veins, and on veins adaxially, bases slightly narrowed or rounded, sometimes asymmetric, apices rather abruptly caudate-acuminate with acumen to 2 cm; costae 10–14 on each side, spreading, depressed adaxially and prominent abaxially in sicco; petiolules c. 6 mm, pubescent. Thyrses to 50 cm, narrowly paniculiform or subspiciform, supra-axillary; primary branches few, squarrose, bearing few secondary branches of cymules, the sweetly scented flowers usually borne in pairs, sessile. Calyx 2–3 mm long, c. 1.8 mm diam., cupular, glabrous to puberulous without, glabrous within, margin truncate to obscurely crenate. Petals 4, c. 12 by 1.8 mm, linear, white, drying black, puberulous without, glabrous within, apex obtuse, slightly concave. Staminal tube cylindric, c. 2 mm diam., somewhat appressed hairy distally, margin crenate; anthers (3–)4–6, 1–2 mm long, inserted just below rim, somewhat ciliate posteriorly. Disk absent. Ovary appressed pubescent; style pubescent proximally; stylehead subcapitate, c. 0.5 mm diam. Infructescence with branches to 6 cm with up to 8 fruits on each. Capsule c. 4 cm diam., depressed globose, shortly stipitate, crimson, obovoid and densely ferruginous pubescent when young; pericarp sometimes with white latex. Seeds 2; testa dark brown, partly enveloped by aril.
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