Tree to 20 m with clear bole to 10 m, 40 cm diam., sometimes with short buttresses. Bark smooth with large corky lenticels, chocolate brown, to superficially fissured and finely cracking; inner bark bright orange, granular; sapwood pale brown; heartwood brown. Crown with sparse branching, open. Twigs stout, angled with cicatrices, greyish brown with bright brown lenticels, densely tomentose when young. Leafy twigs c. 10–15 mm diam.; buds stiletto-like. Leaves to 1 m long in terminal spirals; 2–4-jugate with terminal spike or its scar, petiole 10–16 cm, terete to flattened adaxially, ± densely brown tomentose, weakly swollen at base, leaflets ± alternate, 12–25 by 7–12 cm, elliptic, ± coriaceous, glabrous except on midrib adaxially, softly pubescent abaxially, bases somewhat asymmetric, acute to rounded, costae 15–18 on each side, spreading, inarched but not looped at margin; petiolules 5–11 mm, drying dark brown, weakly swollen. Thyrses to 8 cm long, usually much less, subspiciform, with congested branchlets of subsessile weakly scented flowers, axillary, supra-axillary in axils of leaves or cicatrices; axis 4–6 mm diam., densely pubescent. Calyx 3–4 mm long, 5–6 mm diam., shallowly cupular, densely pubescent without, pale brown, margin irregularly 4-lobed. Petals 4, 8–9 by 3 mm, densely pubescent without, creamish. Staminal tube glabrous, margin ± crenate; anthers 8, c. 1.5 mm long, narrowly oblong, inserted within the tube. Disk c. 2–3 mm tall, glabrous, margin obscurely crenulate. Ovary 4-locular, densely adpressed pubescent; style adpressed pubescent at base; stylehead subcapitute c. 1 mm diam., with a basal annulus and impressions of stamens. Capsule solitary or in groups of 2 or 3, 5–8 cm long, c. 5–8 cm diam., subpyriform, glabrous when rife, orange-red, stipe 1–1.5 cm, pericarp pale along sutures, to 1.5 cm thick, ochreous, within. Seeds c. 2.5 cm long, orange-segment-shaped with creamy laticiferous (?) s.ircotesta.
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