Cleistanthus polystachyus Hook.F. ex Planch.

A straggly shrub or small to medium much-branched evergreen tree 3.5–18 m. high with a wide or columnar crown and with pendulous branches reaching the ground, monoecious or dioecious.. Trunk fluted.. Bark ± smooth, grey-brown to dark brown, soft, thin, flaking in small patches.. Twigs purplish grey or purplish brown, evenly minutely lenticellate.. Young shoots and petioles glabrous, sparingly ferruginous pubescent or ferruginous tomentose.. Petioles 3–6 mm. long.. Leaf-blades oblong, elliptic-oblong, elliptic or sometimes elliptic-oblanceolate, (3–)4–16 cm. long, 1–6 cm. wide, obtusely acuminate to caudate-acuminate, cuneate or rounded, the two halves entering the petiole, coriaceous, lateral nerves 7–10(–12) pairs, brochidodromous, not prominent above, slightly so beneath, tertiary nerves reticulate, not prominent above, scarcely so beneath, glabrous above and beneath except for a few scattered hairs near the base of the midrib, dark green and glossy above, paler beneath, drying reddish-or greyish-brown.. Stipules linear or lanceolate, (5–)7–10(–12) mm. long, subacute, membranaceous, translucent, sparingly ciliate towards the apex, otherwise quite glabrous, readily caducous.. Inflorescences axillary, rarely subterminal, usually solitary, occasionally paired, pseudoracemose, up to 20-flowered, all or mostly ♂, sometimes with 1–3 ♀ flowers either at the base or apex or scattered along the axis; axis extended, 1–5 cm. long, densely fulvous, bronzy, coppery or ferruginous pubescent, sometimes with 2–3 small leaves 1.5–2 mm. long and 0.7–1 mm. wide along its length; bracts ovate-lanceolate to triangular-lanceolate, 2–2.5 mm. long, obtuse or acute, evenly to densely pubescent without.. Flowers fragrant.. Male flowers: pedicels 5–8 mm. long, tomentose; buds ovoid, truncate at the base; sepals narrowly oblong-lanceolate, 5–6 mm. long, 2 mm. wide, subacute, cucullate, densely bronzy, coppery or ferruginous tomentose without, glabrous within, yellow or creamy yellow, occasionally purplish; petals 1 mm. long, elliptic or ± so, subentire or irregularly denticulate; disc pulvinate, 3 mm. diameter, entire, densely fulvous pubescent; staminal column completely enclosed by the disc; filaments 3 mm. long; anthers 2 mm. long; pistillode tripartite, 2 mm. high, densely pubescent.. Female flowers: pedicels 4–8 mm. long, thickened towards the top, not exceeding 1 cm. in fruit, densely pubescent; buds ± conical; sepals caducous, otherwise ± as in the ♂ flowers; petals 2 mm. long, elliptic, ± entire; disc annular, thick, 3 mm. diameter, ± entire, densely fulvous pubescent; ovary subglobose-ovoid, 2 mm. long and wide, densely ferruginous pubescent; styles 3, free, 2 mm. long, thick, twice bifid, pubescent at the base, stigmas papillose, glabrous.. Fruit trilobate-subglobose, 9–12 mm. long, 11–13 mm. diameter, green, evenly ferruginous pubescent.. Seeds ovoid or heart-shaped, 7–8 mm. long, 6 mm. wide, smooth, somewhat shiny, light brown.

It is a tropical plant. It grows in the forest. In Malawi it grows along rivers and the lake shore in light shade. It grows in rainforest up to 2,100 m altitude. It suits humid locations.