A much-branched shrub with twiggy, spreading branches, up to 3 m.. Branches pale greyish or brownish.. Twigs sparingly and not prominently lenticellate.. Young shoots robust, 1.5 mm. wide, densely pubescent.. Petioles 2–7 mm. long, sparingly pubescent; leaf-blades ovate, ovate-elliptic or obovate, 0.7–4 cm. long, 0.5–3 cm. wide, obtuse or rounded at the apex, rounded or rounded-cuneate at the base, shallowly crenate to subentire, firmly chartaceous, lateral nerves 3–5 pairs, looped well within the margin, scarcely prominent above, slightly so beneath, sparingly pubescent along the midrib and main veins above and beneath but otherwise glabrous or subglabrous, drying bright green, later becoming brownish green, but never purplish.. Stipules acu-leate, 2–5 mm. long, straight, pungent, slightly accrescent, tawny.. Male inflorescences laxly glomerulate, shortly pedunculate, 3–11 mm. long; peduncles densely pubescent; bracts minute, pubescent.. Male flowers: pedicels slender, 2 mm. long at anthesis, sparingly pubescent; calyx-lobes 4, ovate, 1 mm. long, 0.7 mm. wide, acute, sparingly pubescent without, glabrous within, green; extrastaminal disc-glands several, flattened, truncate, cuneate, variously united or free, ciliate at the apex; interstaminal glands numerous, erect, clavate, ciliate at the apex; stamens 14–15, 8 peripheral, 6–7 central, 0.5 mm. long, filaments pale green, anthers pale yellow.. Female inflorescences fewer flowered than ♂, but otherwise similar.. Female flowers: pedicels as in ♂; calyx-lobes 3, suborbicular, 1 mm. long and wide, rounded and ciliate at the apex, green; disc-glands 3, ovate-suborbicular, thickened, fleshy, densely pubescent; ovary trilobate, 1.3 mm. diameter, evenly to densely adpressed pubescent; styles free, 1 mm. long, reflexed, stigmas fimbriate-laciniate towards the base, whitish.. Fruit by abortion monococcous, 4–4.5 mm. diameter, sparingly adpressed pubescent.. Seeds 3.5–4 mm. diameter, foveolate-reticulate; aril orange-yellow.
Home