Woody liana, to 20 high, young branches with a thick indumentum. Leaves usually broadly elliptic or slightly obovate or rotund, with a small blunt apicu-lum or occasionally with an attenuated apex, 8-22 by 4.8-12 cm, chartaceous, midrib prominent be-low, lateral veins c. 6, arched and meeting within the margin, upper surface of mature leaves covered with the scattered remnants of stellate hairs, which may form a dense pile above the midrib and principal veins and on the margins, lower surface covered with large stellate hairs with lax, shining, bristle-like arms, sometimes rather densely disposed but not ob-scuring the surface of the blade; a few simple hairs may occur among the stellate indumentum; petiole 10-17 mm, densely clothed in brown indumentum. Inflorescences axillary and terminal, covered with a short dense creamy or fulvous tomentum, elongate (to c. 40 cm) with relatively short opposite or subop-posite lateral branches (5-8 cm long) or the Inflorescence more paniculate with lateral branches 15-20 cm long (the male inflorescences frequently more lax than the female at anthesis); lateral branches bearing several opposite tertiary branches and caducous subulate bracts. Male receptacle bowl-shaped, becoming almost a flat disk at anthe-sis, with c. 5 irregular tepals, c. 5 mm Ø, outer surface with a dense covering of small stellate hairs, inner surface with short simple hairs between the stamens; stamens c. 20, sessile on the inner surface of the receptacle, c. 0.75-1 mm long, apex of the connective with a tuft of minute hairs. Female receptacle ur-ceolate, often asymmetric, 2—3 mm high at anthesis, outer surface with indumentum as in the male, inner surface with long simple hairs between the carpels; carpels c. 15 distributed over the inner surface of the receptacle, tapering to filiform styles which project through the ostiole, becoming reflexed. Immature fruit subspherical, or irregularly bulged, usually markedly asymmetric with a prominent beak to one side; at maturity the enlarged receptacle splits to form c. 5 coriaceous, very irregular lobes c. 2 cm long to which the ripe achenes are attached; drupes spheri-cal, sessile, with a shining black surface, mesocarp succulent, endocarp stony, c. 7 mm long when dry.
Woody liana on shrubs and trees in pri-mary and secondary lower montane rain-forest (dominated by Castanopsis, Lithocarpus, Nothofa-gus or Podocarpus), occurring in ridge forest and also in swampy places with dark brown loam, 1200-2450 m.
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