Tree, sometimes shrubby, 3-15 m tall, glabrous, the crown elongate, the bark grey and lenticellate. Leaves with the blade narrowly elliptic, or narrowly ovate-elliptic, or narrowly obovate-elliptic, the apex acute to obtuse, to 15 cm long and 5 cm wide, coriaceous, the margin entire along the smaller side of the blade, often glandular-serrate along the upper half of the wider side of the blade when young, dark green, smooth, glabrous, the venation inconspicuous except the slightly promi-nent midrib on the lower surface. Flowers sessile, the buds linear, enveloped by the 2 bracts, these to 7 cm long and 2 cm wide, rose-colored to crimson; sepals oblong-elliptic to obovate, acute, strongly concave, thickened by glandular puncta-tions in the middle, the margins membranous and entire, 1.5-2 cm long and 0.8-1.2 cm wide, crimson; petals usually white, occasionally pink, narrowly ovate, obtuse to subacute, up to 7 cm long and 1.5 cm wide, membranous-hyaline except the thickened median portion; stamens with the filaments up to 3.5 cm long, the anthers linear, sagittate at the base, up to 3 cm long; gynoecium up to 6.5-7 cm long, the ovary ca 5 mm in diam. Fruits napiform, irregularly many-sulcate, abruptly long-beaked, 7-10 cm long (beak included), ca 8 cm broad and 2-3 cm thick, at first greenish-brown, later reddish-brown, the beak 1/3-l2 of the total length; seeds with the cotyledons up to 6 cm long and 7 cm wide.
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