Shrub, 3 m., or tree, 15m.; trunk commonly muscular, bark red; branchlets terete, glabrous, gray, the nodes slightly swollen; ocreae cylindrical, the upper portion membranaceous and deciduous, the lower portion coriaceous and persistent; leaves of normal shoots with petioles 8-11 mm. long, puberulent when young, with age glabrous except in the groove, attached above the base of the ocreae; blades ovate to oblong-ovate to ovate-elliptic, 6 X 4, 9 X 4, 10.5 X 5.5 cm. long and broad, thin-coriaceous, glabrous above, glabrate below except for long hairs along the midrib at the base of the blade, the apex attenuate, the base narrowly cordate, the margin entire, midrib and primary veins inconspicuous above, promi-nent below, the primary veins 5 or 6 pairs, the ultimate venation finely reticulate; leaves of adventitious shoots generally similar but occasionally obovate and nar-rowed at the base to ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate-elliptic, the blades 11 X 7 to 18 X 15 cm. long and broad, the basal lobes of leaves of adventitious shoots often overlapping; inflorescence terminal-on short lateral shoots, 3-9 cm. long, the basal ocreae 5-10 mm. long, bibbed at the apex, the rachis glabrous, flowers commonly borne singly at each node, but occasionally two together in staminate plants, the bracts oblong, 2 mm. long, 0.5-0.75 mm. broad, the ocreolae 3 mm. long, bibbed at the apex, membranaceous and persistent, the pedicels 2.5-4 mm. long, the hypanthium 0.75 mm. long, the perianth lobes ovate, 1.5 mm. long and broad, the
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functional stamens 2.5 mm. long, the functional pistil 2 mm. long; fruit generally spherical with coronate lobes, occasionally narrowed at the base, 1 cm. long, 5-9 mm. in diameter; the achene brown, shining.
A tree. The fruit are dark purple.
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