Lianas; stems 3-angled, villous when young, glabrate and shiny in age; wood composite with a single central core surrounded by 3 peripheral bundles, the peripheral bundles sometimes divided into 2 bundles each. Leaves pinnately 5-foliolate, 18-40 cm long; petiole broadly winged, usually 5-10 mm wide; petiolules ca. 4 mm long, densely pubescent; leaflets elliptic to obovate, acuminate at the apex, cuneate to acute at the base, often shortly rounded on to the petiole, 5-21 cm long, 3-12.5 cm wide, membranous, glabrous except for the midrib above and the barbulate vein axils beneath, the margins crenate to serrate-dentate from beyond the middle; stipules narrowly triangular, less than 3 mm long, glabrous, soon deciduous. Thyrses glomerulate-fasciculate in the axils of the leaves of older stems or on tendrils, the rachis sparsely villous, to 2 cm long, usually short; pedi-cels 3-5.5 mm long, sparsely puberulous, usually articulate ca. 1 mm below the flower. Flowers white, greenish white or with a yellow calyx and white petals; sepals ovate, ca. 3 mm long, glabrous; petals obovate-oblong, 3-4 mm long, glabrous, the scales of both anterior and lateral petals ca. 3 mm long, broad at the base, narrow at the middle, ciliate on the margins, the crest large, equalling the basal part, cordate-bifid, glabrous, the deflexed appendage of the anterior petals triangular, marginally ciliate; disc glands about as broad as long, glabrous, subtending the anterior petals only; stamens to 3 mm long, the filaments glabrous or villous. Fruits 3-celled, obovate, long stipitate, wingless, with a tumid projec-tion at the apex of each carpel, 1.5-2 cm long, weakly striate, glabrous, red; seeds 3, ellipsoid, laterally compressed, ca. 1 cm long, the aril extending to midway on each side.
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Woody vine 2-20 m long, usually many-branched from base. Stems trigonous, glabrous, sometimes producing milky sap; cross section with a large, central vascular cylinder and 3 peripheral smaller ones, older stems trigonous, deeply obtusely costate, spirally twisted, bearing no leaves. Stipules subulate, ca. 3 mm long. Leaves pinnately 5-foliolate; petiole and rachis broadly winged; petiolules 3-5 mm long; leaflets subcoriaceous, glabrous except for the barbate vein axils, elliptic to oblong-elliptic, 10-15 × 5-6 cm, the base attenuate to obtuse, the apex obtusely acuminate, the margins repando-dentate to nearly entire; tertiary veins reticulate. Thyrses cauliflorous, racemiform, 2-2.5 cm long, tightly grouped in short fascicles; flower in congested dichasia or elongated cincinni with 4-6 flowers; pedicels 3.5-9 mm long, hirtellous, articulated on upper third. Calyx hirtellous, with 5 sepals, outer sepals ovate, 1.7-2 mm long, inner sepals ca. 3 mm long, oblong; petals oblanceolate, rounded at apex, ca. 4.5 mm long; appendages almost as long as the petals, with fleshy crest at apex; filaments of unequal lengths, pubescent at base. Capsule pyriform or pyriform-trigonous, unwinged, bright red, 1-1.2 cm long, short-stipitate, coriaceous, glabrous, 2-3-seeded. Seeds ca. 1 cm long, prismatic-ellipsoid, black, shiny, covered on lower ⅔ by a thick, fleshy, white sarcotesta.
A vine. The fruit are light brown and turn red when ripe. There is a white layer around the single seed. The seed is black. The fruit are produced along the stem near the ground.
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