An undershrub, up to 2 ft. high; stems thick, woody, usually considerably branched; twigs ascending, glabrous; leaves sessile, thickly coriaceous, opaque, oblong-obovate, obtuse but mucronulate, base cuneate or less often rounded, occasionally minutely cordate, margin scabrous and slightly revolute, 1.5-1.75 in. long, 0.5-0.66 in. wide, quite glabrous on both surfaces, usually drying dark brown; internodes 0.2-0.4 in. long; flowers dioecious, yellow, in both sexes solitary, pedicelled; pedicels glabrous, 0.2 in. long, male slender, female in fruit rigid and stoutish; male sepals obovate, obtuse, with a 3-lobate basal scale; petals wide-obovate, cuneately unguiculate, 2-glandular at the base; rudimentary ovary turbinate, glabrous; female sepals elliptic-lanceolate, larger than the male, with a 3-lobate basal scale: petals oblong-obovate, eglandular; ovary glabrous; styles free, 2-fid; capsule subglobose, 0.2 in. across, glabrous; seeds black, shining.
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