Erect or climbing shrubs, 1-3 m tall; branches terete, densely strigillose and sometimes also strigose, villosulous, or tomentulose to occasionally glabrescent. Leaves opposite; petiole 1.5-3.5 cm, moderately to densely strigillose; blade drying thinly papery, adaxially green to pale green, abaxially pale gray to whitened, broadly ovate, ovate, or broadly elliptic, 6-20 × 3.5-13 cm, both surfaces sparsely strigillose to glabrescent with pubescence denser along veins, base cuneate or usually obtuse to rounded, apex abruptly acuminate or acute; secondary veins 7-10 pairs, tertiary venation regularly areolate; stipules caducous, triangular to ovate-lanceolate, 6-10 mm, sparsely to densely strigillose, often deeply 2-lobed, segments acute. Inflorescences subcapitate becoming laxly cymose, 2-5 × 2-7 cm, densely strigillose and/or tomentulose, many flowered, sessile and tripartite or pedunculate; peduncle 1.5-3 cm; bracts deciduous, ovate, lanceolate, or bilobed, 4-10 mm, sparsely to moderately strigose to strigillose; pedicels 1-4 mm. Flowers pedicellate, biology not noted. Calyx with hypanthium portion turbinate to ellipsoid, 2.5-5 mm, densely strigose; lobes subleaflike, white, lanceolate to ligulate, 5-10 × 2-2.5 mm, moderately to densely strigillose to strigose, acute to long acuminate, with 1 lobe of 1 or few flowers on each inflorescence (or rarely all lobes of all flowers, M. anomala) usually expanded into calycophyll, blade obovate, ovate, or elliptic, (2-)3-4.5 cm, glabrescent on lamina and densely villosulous to strigillose on veins, base cuneate, stipe 5-15(-25) mm, apex acute to shortly acuminate. Corolla yellow, salverform-funnelform, outside densely sericeous; tube 9-14 mm; lobes ovate, 2-3 mm, abruptly acuminate. Infructescences to 6 × 12 cm. Berry subglobose to ellipsoid, ca. 10 × 10 mm, moderately to densely strigose, sparsely lenticellate, calyx limb deciduous. Fl. May-Jul, fr. Jul-Oct.
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