Shrubs or trees to 10 m tall, the branchlets terete, smooth, the pith often conspicuous, white, often constricted below the nodes, the latter well spaced. Leaves narrowly elliptic, occasionally falcate, 4-20 cm long, 1.5-4.0 cm wide, acute or obtuse at the apex, acuminate, the acumen to 2.5 cm long, often falcate, ultimately obtuse or acute, cuneate, occasionally obtuse at the base, the costa prominulous above and beneath, the lateral veins (7-)10-14, arcuate, with usually 1 evanescent parallel vein between 2 lateral veins, papyraceous or chartaceous, glabrous above, puberulent beneath especially on the costa and the veins; petioles to 2.5(-3.0) cm long, 0.08-0. 10 cm wide, glabrous; stipules connate, 3.5-7.5(-9) mm long, the sheath cylindrical, 2-3 mm long, truncate, glabrous, each part with 2 subulate erect awns, mostly as long as or 2-3 times longer than the sheath. Inflorescences terminal, solitary, narrowly oblong, narrowly pyramidal or spici-form, thrysoid paniculate, 6-16 cm long, 2.5-5.5(-8.0) cm wide, the axes purple or red, the peduncles 2.5-7.0 cm long, to 0.2 cm wide, angular, glabrous, the lowermost branches well spaced, opposite, alternate or ternate, to 3.5 cm long; bracteoles minute, subulate, to 2 mm long. Flowers pedicellate; hypanthium and calycine cup short, ca. 1 mm long, the calycine lobes 5, spreading, to 0.5 mm long; corolla pale lavender, purple or rose colored, the tube cylindrical, 8-14 mm long, 0.4 mm wide, petaloid, glabrous outside, glabrous on the upper 2/3 within, the lower 1/3 pubescent, the lobes 5, oblong rotund to oblong, ca. 2.5 mm long, obtuse; stamens 5, the anthers narrowly oblong, ca. 4 mm long, the filaments subplane, 1-2 mm long, attached just above the middle of the tube, style as long as the corolla tube, the stigmas slender, ca. 0.7 mm long. Fruits subrotund, 4-5 mm long, purple black or dark blue, drying black, glabrous, moderately furrowed longitudinally.
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