Pachycaul tree to 21 m; bole to 20 cm diam., unbranched or sparsely and fastigiately branched, often from near base, sometimes slightly fluted below, knobbled or with small stiltroots, taprooted at least when young. Bark blackish brown, smooth to weakly fissured, with conspicuous scutellar cicatrices to 5 cm wide and long above; inner bark deep orange-yellow to brownish; sapwood ivory to fawn; pith wide, soft, white. Leafy twigs to 2 cm diam., all young parts brown-tomentose with irritant hairs, sometimes inhabited by ants [ Pannell Kew Bull., Add. Ser. 16 1992 16 ]. Leaves to 2 m long, in terminal rosettes, maturing in flushes, pinkish red when young, imparipinnate, especially on saplings, or pseudogemmulate, pseudogemmula sometimes falling without further development, petiole 10–20 cm, terete, base swollen, massive, woody; rachis often angled, brown-tomentose. Leaflets 3–37 by 2–10 cm, the most proximal smallest, narrowly elliptic to oblong, sessile to subsessile, patent, rugose, shiny and glabrous adaxially except for brown-tomentose midrib, tomentose or tawny pubescent abaxially, surface strongly reticulate-areolate, costae 12–30 on each side, arcuate. Inflorescences borne in upper axils, appearing when fruit on old infructescences maturing (female trees), to 90 cm; axis massive, tough with flowers forming a terminal head to 45 by 10 cm, sometimes with short branches to 7 cm, composed of fascicles of sweetly scented pedicellate flowers, brownish pink in bud. Calyx (3–)4–8 mm tall and in diam., cupular, reddish brown, minutely puberulous, often warty, margin entire or obscurely 3-or 4-lobed, ± setose. Petals 5 or 6(–10), 26–37 mm long, linear-spathulate, creamy red-striped without, white flushed pink within, waxy, concave distally, densely pilose without. Staminal tube cylindrical, slightly widened at mouth, villous with downward-pointing hairs within lower 3/4, sometimes sparsely hairy without especially just below lobes, lobes c. 10–15, often irregularly bifid, shorter than anthers; anthers 7–13(–15), 4.5–5 mm long, boat-shaped, locellate, glabrous, basifixed. Disk to 1 mm tall, annular, apically pilose. Ovary (4–) 5– (6–)locular; style cylindrical, sparsely pubescent; stylehead spherical. Capsule to 7 cm diam., subglobular, (4–) 5– (6–)locular, golden brown velvety with deciduous irritant hairs. Seeds 3–5, to 4 cm long; sarcotesta white.
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