Large shrub up to 5 m tall, widely spreading (to 12 m) with many near-horizontal lateral branches with apices sometimes twining; bark mainly smooth, pale buff-coloured with longitudinal reticulation and occasionally with dark grey bands, flaking; young branchlets light green, glabrous to sparsely puberulous and lepidote. Leaves opposite, exstipulate, petiolate; lamina elliptic to oblong-elliptic, (30-)45(-80) x (15-)20(-30) mm, base rounded, apex obtuse or occasionally retuse, slightly discolorous, upper surface deep green, glabrous except for scales, sometimes with a few cilia at the base, veins slightly immersed, lower surface paler green, glabrous except for scales and a few trichomes on the midrib, hairy pockets sometimes present, 5-7 pairs of lateral veins raised; petioles 4-9 mm long, lepidote, puberulous. Scales 45-85 µm in diam., 8-celled with a number of tangential walls. Inflorescence a spike, up to 25 mm long, singly or in pairs at the apices of previous year's growth and in axils on current extensions; peduncle and rhachis light green, sparsely puberulous, densely lepidote. Flowers sessile, 4-merous; bracteoles ± 0.5 mm long, lepidote; lower receptacle 2-2.3 mm long including restriction at junction with upper receptacle, brownish green, sparsely puberulous with dense yellowish stalked scales; upper receptacle cupuliform, surrounding the disc, distal portion infundibuliform, overall length ± 3 mm, width at sepal apices ± 3 mm, green, sparsely puberulous with whitish scales. Sepals triangular, ± 0.8 mm long, apices fringed with short whitish hairs. Petals 4, pale green, spathulate, glabrous, ± 1.5 mm long. Stamens 8; filaments light green, 6-6.5 mm long; anthers light yellow, 1 mm long. Style light green, ± 3.5 mm long with stigma slightly expanded and darkened. Disc square in outline with long silvery hairs. Fruit 4-winged, up to 50 x 50 mm, outline subcircular with a wide shallow basal notch and a small apical notch, apical peg up to 1 mm long, lepidote, stipe up to 20 mm long, densely lepidote; wings brown-tinged limegreen when ripening, cinnamon when ripe. Seed ellipsoidal, up to 16 x 9 mm, dark purplish brown. Cotyledons 2, up to 33 x 45 mm, transversely elliptic, arising above soil level; petioles ± 3 mm long. Normally flowers in September but a second flowering late in March has also been recorded.
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