Herbs, short, woody, the stems strongly quadrangular, smooth, glabrous, the roots fibrous. Leaves sessile, elliptic to obovate elliptic or obovate spatulate, 9-30 cm long, 5-10 cm wide, acute and short acuminate at the apex, basally cuneate, often widely so, to 2.5 cm wide at the base, ultimately obtuse or vaguely auricu-late, the costa porcate above, prominent-beneath, the lateral veins 10-25, widely arcuate, prominent beneath, usually 1.5-2.5 cm apart, with usually a conspicuous intermediate vein between a pair of lateral veins, chartaceous, glabrous, the raphides numerous, linear; stipules not seen. Inflorescences with peduncles wiry but not stiffly erect, arising at or near the ground level, to 4 cm long, the cymules few flowered. Flowers (in bud) with the hypanthium glabrous, the calycine teeth 4, subulate, less than 1 mm long, puberulent; stamens and petals not seen; ovary 2-locular. Fruits oblong, to 6 mm long, the ribs 4; seeds ca. 1 mm long, coarsely foveolate.
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