An erect shrub to c. 1.5 m, stems annual from a caduciform woody tuber. Tuber below substrate unknown, above soil to c. 1 x 1 m, subglobose with a single shoot-bearing apex when young to irregularly cylindric-ovoid with age and branching into several apices from which shoots are initiated; outer 'corky' layer divided by furrows into projections, in young plants projections with oblong to irregular polygonal bases a few cm across, to c. 8 cm long, narrowing towards apex and pyramidal to irregularly polyhedral but always pointed, horizontally marked with brown to pale grey (annual?) striations, with age corky layer charred black, with low dome-shaped elements to c. 3 cm thick and 10 cm wide/long, tuber internal tissue woody, white. Indumentum wholly absent. Stems 1 to several per shoot-bearing apex per growing season, to 10 mm in diameter, subterete, unarmed, fistulose, erect to ascending, smooth to weakly longitudinally ridged, grey-green with a purple hue to dull red-brown, drying pale to red-brown or olive green, much branched, intemodes a few cm apart and branches spreading horizontally at least at bases to give a dense, shrub-like habit, not twining even at the apices but retaining a residual left twist, dead stems of previous seasons often persisting. Leaves alternate, held erect to ascending at c. 45° on more or less horizontal to ascending shoots, blade 15-41 x 6-20 mm, thickly chartaceous and stiff at maturity, with 3 or 5 veins to the apex, margins entire but appearing to have tiny auricles where channelled petiole is inserted onto leaf base; most leaves narrowly ovate to elliptic, elliptic-oblong, ovate or (narrowly) ovate-trapeziform, base obtuse to cuneate, apex weakly and shallowly retuse to acute with an acute to short-acuminate 0.8-2 mm long forerunner tip; a few 5-veined leaves ovate, broadly elliptic or obovate to rotund or obovate, rarely orbicular or transversely elliptic, base obtuse to broadly cuneate, apex retuse, bearing a 1.5-4.3 mm long forerunner tip; all leaves dull pale green on both surfaces, petiole and main venation pale whitish-green and often translucent, lower epidermis (at x 40 or x 60) reticulate, translucent; forerunner tip thickened, con-colorous to brown or grey in 3-veined leaves, brown to very dark brown or dark grey in 5-veined leaves, undulately ridged, sometimes (more frequently in larger forerunner tips of 5-veined leaves) with pits surrounded by necrotic tissue on tip or adjacent parts of blade; primary and secondary veins shallowly impressed on upper surface, prominent below; petiole 2-6 x 0.4-1.5 mm (broader element of range in 5-veined leaves), with short basal and apical pulvinii, channelled above, cream-green, concolorous with and translucent like main veins in both fresh and dried material, base expanded and deltoid; cataphylls present at lower branch bases as stout, rather brittle, broadly deltoid, rigid projections (petiole base remains) often with apices broken off and with age reduced to ridges below the lower stem branches; lateral nodal flanges ('stipules' of Burkill) and bulbils not present. Inflorescences 1 per axil, simple, racemose, erect to ascending, axes stout, terete to ridged, concolorous with distal stems, flowers held erect to ascending at anthesis, few per inflorescence towards shoot apices, especially in female plants; male inflorescences 16-53 mm long, peduncle 9-14 mm long, flowers solitary or in cymular pairs, bracts present at pedicel base and at from c. 1/4 to 3/4 of its length (solitary flowers) or at cymule base and branching point (paired flowers); female inflorescences 14-51 mm long, peduncle 11-28 mm long, bracts 1 or 2 at pedicel base or 1 at base and 1 higher on pedicel. Flowers with a shallowly saucer-shaped torus which is concolorous with pedicel to purplish-brown, when dry green to brown; tepals 6, narrowly oblong to narrowly oblong-elliptic or oblanceolate, inserted at torus apex in 2 un-or scarcely differentiated whorls (inner slightly broader), chartaceous, pale cream yellow with a dark green longitudinal central stripe, when dry pale tan-yellow to brown-yellow with an apparently broader stripe; bases ascending at c. 45°, apices obtuse to acute and reflexed to recurved at anthesis, floral scent unknown; male flowers on 2-6 mm long pedicels (including parts above and below floral (upper) bract) which are weakly clavate and terete in cross-section but longitudinally ridged; cymule primary branch (where present) 1.1-2.3 mm long, branch and pedicel concolorous with axis; floral bracts 1.1-2 x 0.4-0.9 mm long, ovate to narrowly so, membranous, pale tan to red-brown, apex acuminate; torus 0.8-1.4 x (1.3-) 1.7-1.9 mm; tepals 3.8-4.9 x 1.1-1.7 mm (length including torus from which they are not clearly differentiated); filaments 6, (0.8-) 1.1-1.6 mm long, inserted on longitudinal stripe towards tepal bases, incurved towards its apex so that the basifixed anthers are held ± horizontally in a loose cluster above the pistillode, anthers 0.6-1.2 x 0.35-0.8 mm long, narrowly oblongoid to ellipsoid; pistil-lode 1.3-1.7 mm long, narrowly ovoid, longitudinally 3-ridged, erect, apex acuminate, entire; female flowers on 3.2-8.4 mm long (longer element of range in immature capsules) angled and ridged pedicels which are concolorous with ovary/developing capsule, especially towards apex; floral bracts as in male flowers; ovary c. 4-5 x 1.5-2.5 mm, narrowly oblongoid with three blunt longitudinal ridges, rapidly develop ing into an immature capsule, mid-green, paler on the ridges and the latter with purple margins, when dry light to mid brown, often with patches of white or cream speckling (seen at x 40 or x 60 to be thickened parts of the epidermis of variable thickness, distribution and texture); torus subtended by a 0.1-1.1 mm long, broad stipe, 0.2-0.6 x 1.9-2.3 mm; tepals 2.8-4.1 x 1.0-1.4 mm; staminodia 6, 0.6-0.8 mm, inserted near tepal bases, erect, filiform to stamini-form; styles 3, fused to form a 1.7-2.5 mm long, stout, erect, cylindric to 3-ridged column, 3-lobed and 1-1.2 mm in diam. at its apex, each lobe recurved and bifidly split into 2 flat, ovate stigmatic lobes with acute apices, patent to stylar column. Capsule (15-) 18-20 x (16-)17-20 mm, broadly obovate to broadly obovate-elliptic, borne erect (i.e. not reflexing as in pendent inflorescences) at c. 15-45° to axis at dehiscence, base cuneate, apex shallowly retuse, floral stipe, torus and sometimes tepals (in part) persistent at capsule apex to dehiscence, opening to c. 1/4 to 1/3 of its depth; capsule lobe apices weakly recurved to expose wing apex and smooth, glossy, straw-coloured inner surface of endocarp, outer pericarp pale straw-brown with dense red-brown to dark red-brown flecking, sometimes with a greyish hue or fragmenting, especially near axis at dehiscence, to reveal outer surface of endocarp. Seeds variable, 4-7 x 3.5-6 mm (excluding wing) thinly lenticular to ovoid-lenticular, in the latter the longer axis horizontal to vertical, dull, matt, mid to dark brown, smooth to the naked eye but roughened to weakly striate under the dissecting microscope; winged at apex only or with a narrow (to c. 1.5 mm wide) wing on the side and sometimes base of the seed, continuous with the main wing, never winged in area where the seed is inserted on the placenta, sometimes with an acute projection of the testa at the base to c. 1 mm long; wing 6-12 x 6-9.5 mm, oblong-elliptic to oblong-ovate, obovate or obovate-obtrapezoidal to broadly so, sometimes longitudinally asymmetric, apex acute to truncate, rarely weakly retuse, membranous and translucent to thinly chartaceous and opaque, sometimes appearing longitudinally rugose or bullate especially where thicker, pale to chestnut brown, darker towards seed, under the dissecting microscope appearing to be clear and translucent with a network of branching and anastomosing darker opaque fibres, the density of the fibres determining the colour and level of translucence of any part of the wing, margin entire to weakly, shallowly and irregularly lobed.
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