Lianas; stems variable, 3-5-sided when young, viscidulous, glandular, glabrous or sparsely pubescent with occasional long trichomes, soon terete or 3-sulcate; wood simple or rarely with one costa apparently forming a separate bundle. Leaves variable, 8-30 cm long, bipinnately compound, ternate-pinnate with 11 leaflets or with the lowermost segments sometimes 5-foliolate; petioles 1-10 cm long, without wings or rarely narrowly winged near the apex, marginally ribbed on the upper surface; lowermost rachis margined or narrowly winged, the other rachises narrowly winged, rarely only margined, the wings broadest toward the apex; leaflets lanceolate-elliptic, oblong-elliptic to subrhombic, acuminate at the apex, attenuate to acute at the base, (1.5-)3-14 cm long, (1-)1.5-5 cm wide, entire to crenate-dentate in the outer 1/2-%, the upper surface glabrous except sometimes sparsely pubescent on the midrib, glabrous beneath except usually densely barbulate in the vein axils, sometimes sparsely pubescent on the midrib; stipules linear-lanceolate, 7-15 mm long, sparsely appressed-pubescent. Inflores-cences axillary or more commonly borne at leafless nodes well below leaves, some-times borne at ground level, rarely on tendrils; thyrses less than 2 cm long, in short-branched, glomerate clusters; pedicels 4-6 mm long, longer than the rachis, glabrous or sparsely appressed-puberulent, articulate near the apex. Flowers white, nearly glabrous, the outer sepals oval to obovate, ciliate; petals obovate, to 3.5 mm long, glandular on both surfaces, the anterior scales 2/3 as long as the petals, obovate-elliptic, prominently ciliate; crest 0.5 mm long, obovate, orange, the deflexed appendage equalling the crest, densely bearded in the lower 1/4 and along the lateral margins; disc glands oblong, sparsely puberulent on both sides; filaments flattened, densely villous throughout; bisexual flowers with the stamens 2 mm long, the pistil to 3.5 mm long, the ovary less than 1 mm long, trigonous, densely hispidulous, the style glabrous, 3-branched in the upper 1/4. Fruits broadly 3-winged, round or nearly so, cordate at the apex, truncate to rounded or cordate at the base, 2-3 cm long, 2.5-3.3 cm wide, red, glabrous or nearly so outside, densely erect-pubescent inside, the nerves prominulous, the wings to ca. 1 cm wide; seed 1, globose to ellipsoid, black, shiny, densely soft-pubescent, white-arillate at the base.
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