A monoecious virgately-branched shrub or small tree up to 12 m. in height, although most commonly 3–6 m.. Young twigs sparingly or evenly stellate-pubescent, often adpressedly so.. Older twigs dark purplish grey.. Bark brown, longitudinally fissured.. Leaves aromatic; petiole (1–)2–3.5(–4.5) cm. long, densely stellate-tomentose or evenly or sparsely stellate-pubescent or almost glabrous; leaf-blade broadly ovate or rhomboid-ovate, (3–)4–8(–10) cm. long, (1.5–)2–6(–7) cm. wide, acutely or obtusely acuminate, sometimes caudate, cuneate, rounded or almost truncate, with 2(–4) subsessile or stipitate discoid basal glands usually visible from above, serrulate, thinly chartaceous, 5–7-nerved from the base, remaining lateral nerves 3–5 pairs, not prominent above, prominent beneath, evenly to densely greyish or fulvous stellate-pubescent above and very densely whitish or buff stellate-tomentose beneath at first, later becoming evenly or sparingly pubescent above and beneath.. Stipules filiform, 2–7 mm. long, sparingly stellate-pubescent or glabrous, readily deciduous.. Racemes terminal or subterminal, (1–)3–10(–13) cm. long, either all ♂, all ♀, half ♂ (above) and half ♀ (below) or mostly ♂ with 1–2 ♀’s at the base; axis densely, evenly or sparingly stellate-pubescent; bracts filiform to linear, 1.5–3 mm. long, sparingly stellate-pubescent.. Male flowers: pedicels 4–9 mm. long, evenly or sparingly stellate-pubescent; calyx 5-lobed, the lobes ± ovate, 2–3 mm. long, 2 mm. wide, acute or subacute, sparingly stellate-pubescent without, glabrous within, puberulous toward the apex, greenish; petals 5, obovate-spathulate, 2.5 mm. long, 1.5 mm. wide, obtuse, glabrous without and within except at the base, which is villous, ciliate, especially at the apex, cream; disc-glands free, rounded; stamens 16, filaments 2 mm. long, glabrous, anthers 1 mm. long, orange; receptacle villous.. Female flowers: pedicels 2–3 mm. long, stouter than the ♂ pedicels, extending to 1.5–2 cm. in fruit, densely stellate-pubescent; sepals 5, ovate to lanceolate or elliptic-oblong, 3 mm. long, 2 mm. wide, accrescent to 1.1 cm. long and 5 mm. wide in fruit, subacute or obtuse, becoming foliaceous, with a midrib and 2–3 pairs of lateral nerves, sparingly stellate-pubescent without, and within in the upper half, glabrous within in the lower half, green; petals 0; disc shallowly 5-lobed, the lobes alternating with the sepals, rounded, puberulous; ovary globose-subtrilobed, 2.5–3 mm. diameter, densely fulvous stellate-tomentose; styles 3, ascending-incurved or somewhat spreading, stellate-pubescent beneath at the base, otherwise glabrous, deeply bipartite, the lobes filiform, 2.5 mm. long.. Fruit trilobed-subglobose, 5 mm. long, 7 mm. wide, septicidal, evenly scurfily stellate-pubescent.. Seeds ovoid-ellipsoid, 5–5.5 mm. long, 3 mm. wide, dark brown, shiny with a small caruncle 1 mm. wide.
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Female flowers: pedicels 2–3 mm long, extending to 1.5–2 cm in fruit; sepals 5, 3 × 2 mm, accrescent to 10 × 5 mm in fruit, ovate-lanceolate to elliptic-oblong, subacute, becoming foliaceous, with a midrib and 2–3 pairs of lateral nerves, sparingly stellate-pubescent without, subglabrous within, green; petals absent; disk shallowly 5-lobed, the lobes alternating with the sepals, rounded, puberulous; ovary 2 mm in diameter, trilobate-subglobose, densely fulvous stellate-tomentose; styles 3, 3–4 mm long, divaricate, deeply 2-partite, the segments filiform, sparingly stellate-pubescent basally, apically subglabrous.
Leaf blades 4–12 × 2–9 cm, broadly ovate to ovate-lanceolate, acuminate at the apex, somewhat irregularly serrulate on the margin, wide-cuneate to rounded or truncate at the base, with a pair of shortly-stipitate or subsessile discoid basal glands on the lower surface, chartaceous, sparingly stellate-pubescent on upper surface, evenly to densely so beneath; 5–7-nerved from the base, lateral nerves in 3–4 pairs, slightly prominent beneath.
Male flowers: pedicels 5–6 mm long; sepals 5, 2.5 × 2 mm, ovate, stellate-pubescent without, glabrous within, greenish; petals 5, 2.5 × 1.5 mm, obovate-spathulate, ciliate but otherwise glabrous, cream-coloured; disk glands 5, rounded-subtruncate, fleshy, pubescent; stamens 15, filaments 2 mm long, glabrous, anthers 1.25 mm long, orange-yellow; receptacle villous.
Racemes 4–7 cm long, terminal, few-flowered, usually androgynous, sometimes male; bracts resembling the stipules.
Fruits 5 × 7 mm, trilobate-subglobose, septicidal, evenly scurfily and sparingly patent stellate-pubescent.
Seeds 4.5 × 3 mm, ovoid-ellipsoid, smooth, shiny, dark brown; caruncle 1 mm wide.
A shrub or small tree to 6 m tall, monoecious or sometimes dioecious.
Stipules up to 7 mm long, filiform, soon falling.
Young growth stellate-hirsute.
Twigs dark purplish-grey.
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