Tree 5–6 m high, with single trunk or with few branches towards top, with brittle wood. Leaves: lamina broadly oblanceolate, distinctly large, 50–75 cm long, 25–30 cm wide, gradually narrowed and finally rounded at base, obtuse to rounded at apex. Male inflorescence not seen. Female inflorescence terminal, paniculate, 10–15 cm long, densely clustered. Calyx rudimentary. Petals 5 or 6, narrowly triangular, 1.5–2 mm long, persistent. Stamens as many as petals, c. 1 mm long. Ovary flask-shaped, 3–4 mm long, 5-or 6-locular; styles 5 or 6, 2–3 mm long, strongly recurved, persistent. Fruit globose, 5–6 mm long, bluntly 5-or 6-ribbed.
Can grow on steep slopes, coastal cliffs, and in both shaded and unshaded sites, and is most commonly established at the edges of canopy gaps or along forest margins, but sometimes also beneath pines (Sykes & Atkinson 1988).
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