Shrubs or small trees to 7 m tall, the branches terete, stout, smooth, glabrous or puberulent. Leaves oblong, to 50 cm long, to 21 cm wide, deltoid to vaguely obtuse at the apex, basally truncate to subcordate, the costa plane or prominulous above, prominent beneath, to 3 mm wide, the lateral veins usually ca. 20, usually 1.5-2.5 cm apart, coriaceous, glabrous to golden puberulent beneath, the inter-venal areas often delicately wrinkled; petioles either absent or to 1 cm long, stout, rimose, glabrous; stipules interpetioalr--'connate, to 4 or 5 cm long, to 0.6 cm wide at the base forming a sheath, each part with 2 subulate awns longer than the sheath, acute, coriaceous, puberulent, rubescent. Inflorescences terminal, spreading paniculate, to 40 cm long, the peduncle 15-20 cm long, with 3 primary branches at the tip, 10-15(-21) cm long, angular ascending or arcuate, each ter-minating in either 3 radially disposed secondary branches or in a few branches. Flowers with the hypanthium oblong, to 1 cm long, to 0.6 cm wide, tapering cuneately below, the calycine cup short, dilated, the margin with 4 or 5 broad, strongly compressed rotund or widely triangular lobes, coriaceous, glabrous; co-*rolla white, the tube cylindrical, ca-.-2-xlonger than wide, to 2 cm long, carnose, glabrous inside and out, the lobes 5, triangular or oblong, to 1 cm long, glabrous; stamens 5, the anthers narrowly oblong, ca. 7 mm long, ca. 1.2 mm wide, retuse at the apex, the filaments short, plane, attached at the upper 2/3 Of the tube; style plane, attenuate at the base, to 1.5 cm-long; stigmas 2, to 5 mm long, ca. 0.7 mm wide, truncate, the ovary thin walled,-the locules 2-3, the ovules numerous on 2-3 intrusive, C-shaped placentas as-seen-in cross section. Fruits oblong or obovate oblong, 1-1.5 cm long, ca. 1 cm wide at the base, ligneous, glabrous, drying black, topped by a conspicuous and shallow ringlike scar, splitting longi-tudinally into 2 or 3 thin valves; seeds numerous.
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