Shrub, small tree or climbing shrub, 3–7.5 m. long or tall; young stems at first densely covered with dense spreading ferruginous hairs but later glabrous, wrinkled, dark blackish-purple.. Leaf-blades elliptic, obovate or obovate-oblong, 3–18(–20) cm. long, 2–7.5 cm. wide, obtuse, rounded, acute or somewhat acuminate at the apex, rounded to slightly but distinctly cordate at the base, thin, very densely ferruginous hairy all over when young, later glabrous above save on the midrib, but remaining densely pilose and sometimes glaucous beneath; venation reticulate and slightly raised on both surfaces; petiole 3–5 mm. long, densely ferruginous hairy.. Flowers hermaphrodite, solitary, extra-axillary or ± leaf-opposed; pedicels 0.7–4 cm. long, ferruginous hairy; bracteole situated near the base, ovate-lanceolate to ovate, 1.5–9(–10) mm. long, 1–5 mm. wide, ferruginous hairy.. Sepals ± united at the base, reniform, broadly ovate or almost round, 2–5 mm. long and wide, densely ferruginous pubescent.. Petals green or yellow, thick, densely ferruginous tomentose save at base inside; outer round or broadly ovate, 3.5–8(–10) mm. long, 3.5–8(–9.5) mm. wide; inner round, elliptic or obovate, 3–6(–7) mm. long, 2–5(–6) mm. wide.. Stamens ± 15, cuneiform, 1–1.5 mm. long, glabrous; filaments shorter than the anthers, 0.3 mm. long; connective-prolongation obliquely capitate.. Carpels ± 40; ovary ellipsoid-oblong, ± 1 mm. long, longitudinally grooved on one side, 1–3(–4)-ovuled, glabrous or pilose near base; style ± 0.8 mm. long, oblong, folded so that it is horseshoe-shaped in plan and laterally deeply grooved; stigmas capitate, bilobed.. Fruiting pedicel 1–4 cm. long, hairy; monocarps orange or scarlet, 3–28, globose or ellipsoid when 1-seeded, cylindric when 2–3(–4)-seeded and slightly constricted between the seeds, the articles 0.5–1.3 cm. long, 4–6 mm. wide, at first glaucous, glabrous or glabrescent, finely rugulose, the apical one shortly apiculate; stipes ± 2 mm. long.. Seeds yellow, ellipsoid, 0.5–1.1 cm. long, 4–5 mm. wide, flattened at either end in several-seeded monocarps.. Fig. 22/10, p. 91.
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