Unarmed shrubs or trees up to 6 m. tall; trunk cylindrical, not straight; outer bark peeling in strong blackish scrolls from the copper-coloured very tough under-bark; slash red or pinkish; exudate colourless, very aromatic; young twigs slender, 0.5–1.0 mm. in diameter, almost glabrous or puberulous, yellowish or reddish brown, becoming grey.. Leaves 3–5-foliolate, glabrous or crisped-puberulous beneath, subglabrous above but the midrib nearly always crisped-puberulous; petiole 5–25(–35) mm. long, crisped-puberulous, sometimes narrowly winged near the top, as is the rhachis in 5-foliolate leaves; leaflets elliptic to slightly obovate, crenate or crenate-serrate or rarely subentire, broadly acute, rounded or emarginate apically, the laterals ± rounded below, sessile or on petiolules up to 2 mm. long, 4–22 mm. long, 3–16 mm. wide; the terminal attenuate below into a petiolule (extension of rhachis) which maybe up to 10 mm. long, 7–25 mm. long, 5–15(–20) mm. wide.. Flowers usually precocious, brownish yellow, glabrous, the ♂ clustered 6–8 together in glabrous brownish cymes ± 3 mm. long, with paired oval bracteoles ± 1 mm. long united below to form cups; ♀ single or in pairs on stalks ± 1 mm. long.. Calyx ± 1.7 mm. broad and 1.3 mm. deep including broad teeth ± 0.3 mm. long.. Petals elliptic-linear, ± 2 × 1 mm., recurved at the tip.. Filaments 1.5 and 1.4 mm., anthers 0.6 and 0.5 mm., the stamens thus appearing subequal; staminodes in ♀ flowers ± 1 mm. long.. Ovary and style each 1 mm.. Fruit-stalk 1–3 mm. long; drupe reddish brown marked with 4 pale streaks, ovoid-ellipsoid, apiculate, 6–8 × 5–6 × (1.5 + 3) mm.; pericarp 4-valved; pseudaril very thin and obscure covering most of the stone, which is ± smooth and measures 5–6 × 4–5 × (0.5 + 1.5) mm.; the sterile locule narrowly oblong, ± 1.6 mm. wide.. Fig. 15/11, 12, p. 82.
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