Evergreen shrubs to small trees, 2-8 m tall; branches terete, twigs striate, green or brown when dry. Petiole sturdy, short, less than 1 cm; leaf blade leathery or thickly leathery, obovate or elliptic-obovate, 9-15 × 4.5-6 cm, base cuneate or attenuate, margin proximal 1/5-2/5 entire, distal 3/5-4/5 crenulate, serrulate to serrate, sometimes ciliate, apex acute, acuminate, or caudate; lateral veins 6-8 pairs, obscure to clear, curving forward, netting and disappearing before reaching margin. Cymes single or clustered when young, axillary; peduncle slender, 2-3 cm, 1 or 2 × dichotomously branched with 3 flowers, rarely more than 3; pedicel 4-6 mm. Flowers 4-merous, ca. 6 mm in diam.; sepals suborbicular; petals green, light yellow, or greenish yellow, ovate, base attenuate. Capsule reddish brown when fresh, dark brown or gray when dry, 4-lobed, lobes bending backward, 1.8-2.4 cm in diam., sometimes only 2 or 3 lobes developing, lobes ovoid. Seeds dark brown; aril bright red. Fl. Apr-Jul, fr. Sep-Nov.
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