Shrubs up to 1.6 m, erect, rounded, developing from a single stem below. Branches erect, coloured, short-pubescent, glabrescent later, stout in the female. Leaves of male plants 4.2-8.5 cm long, 1.8-2 cm broad, of female plants 6-10.5 cm long, 2-2.6 cm broad, oblanceolate or elliptic, obtuse or subacute, mucro recurved and reddened, rigidly coriaceous, glabrous, veined margins narrowly cartilaginous; young leaves softly pubescent and ciliate Involucral leaves crowded, becoming yellow. Male inflorescence up to 2.4 cm diam., globose, solitary, terminal, giving off a faint pleasant lemony smell. Basal bracts 6 mm long, 6 mm broad, about 20 in number, ovate, brown recurved. Floral bract 4.5 mm long, 1.3 mm broad, lanceolate, densely villous below. Floral bud 6 mm long, bent, glabrous, yellow and slightly enlarged above, apex 4-lobed. Perianth tube 3.5 mm long, glabrous. Claw 2 mm long recurved 90°, glabrous. Limb 2.3 mm long, glabrous, spathulate. Anther 1.5 mm long, curled upwards, stripped of pollen at anthesis. Pollen triangular in polar view with rounded apices and sides 40 µ long, polar depth 25 µ. Stigma abortive, 1.3 mm long, clavate, acting as a pollen presenter. Style 5.5 mm long, glabrous, narrower above. Hypogynous scales 2.3 mm long, subulate. Nectar seen at the apices of the hypogynous scales. Receptacle 1.5 cm long, 7 mm diam., clavate. Female inflorescence 2.5 cm long, 1.8 cm diam., ovoid, glabrous, solitary, terminal, with yellow florets protruding quite far beyond the green bracts, arranged in 8 ascending spirals of 7 or 8 in each, giving off a faint pleasant smell. Basal bracts 9 mm long, 9 mm broad, about 25 in number, ovate, brown and recurved above, glabrous, eciliate, imbricating the base of the head. Floral bract 5 mm long, 10 mm broad, broadly oval, the outermost with a blunt point, glabrous, sometimes short-pubescent towards the base. Floral bud mm long, glabrous. Perianth segments imbricated forming a tube, 5.5 mm long, compressed, glabrous. Claw 2 mm long, recurved 135°, glabrous. Limb 1 mm long, glabrous, laterals concave and hooked, anterior and posterior flattened. Staminode 0.3 mm long, anterior often absent. Ovary 1.5 mm long, lobed above, glabrous. Style 7 mm long, glabrous, narrower below. Stigma 0.7 mm diam., oblique. Hypogynous scales 2 mm long, subulate. Nectar seen filling the perianth tube above the hypogynous scales. Receptacle 2 cm long, 5 mm broad, cylindrical. Mature female head a cone, indehiscent, 4.2-6.4 cm long, 3.3-4.5 cm diam., globose, glabrous, bracts very broad often notched with brown edges clearly outlined. Fruit samara like, 9-12 mm long, 8-12 mm broad, compressed, dusky, broadly winged above, emarginate, pitted, glabrous, a few short hairs at the basal scar, median suture not prominent.
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Rounded, dioecious shrub to 1.6 m. Leaves elliptic-oblanceolate, glabrescent, 42-85 mm long (male), 60-105 mm long (female), involucral leaves larger, yellow tinged red. Male flower heads ± 24 mm diam., female ± 18 mm diam., fruit-scented.
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