Deciduous tree (7–) 15–27 m. high, when young columnar, later rounded or with open conical crown; younger branches pendulous; bark at first smooth, whitish or light brown, later dark red-brown or grey-brown, rough, longitudinally fissured, often deeply; woody twigs red-brown, glabrous, rough with many shallow longitudinal furrows and scattered small inconspicuous oval pale lenticels 0.2–0.3 mm. long; very young stems yellow-brown, glabrous or with sparse or abundant short fine ± erect hairs.. Leaves of very varying shape with intermediates between two different forms: on juvenile or sucker growth very narrow, linear, narrowly ovate or narrow-elliptical, entire or variously serrate or dentate or shallowly few-lobed, 4–7.5 cm. long, 3–10 mm. wide, apex rounded or acute, tip mucronate, base cuneate, ± sessile or with petiole up to 6 mm. long; on mature growth leaves broad, rarely elliptical and shallowly 2–5-toothed, more often ovate or obovate and angular, 2–5-lobed, 4–7 × 4.5–5 cm., apex long-acute to truncate and lobed, extreme tip mucronate, base cuneate or ± rounded; both forms chartaceous, glabrous or with sparse, rarely abundant, short fine pale hairs above and beneath; primary veins alternate or subopposite, 4–7(–8) pairs, running into margin or lobe-tips or becoming indistinct, reticulation usually visible in mature leaves, all venation inconspicuous in juvenile form; petiole 2.5–4.5 cm. long.. Stipules free, thinly membraneous, reddish, strap-like or obovate, up to 5 mm. long, 1.5 mm. wide, soon deciduous.. Male inflorescences 1.7–2 cm. long, axillary; axis with short fine pale hairs more dense near base; flowers 6–9, spirally arranged; pedicels ± 1 mm. long, sparsely pubescent as axis; bract red-brown, thinly membranous, strap-like, ± spathulate, apically forked or lobed, 3–4(–5) mm. long, 1–1.5 mm. wide; disc reddish, membranous, deeply laciniate almost to centre into many strap-like lobes, each ± 1 mm. long.. Stamens many (± 30); filaments up to 1 mm. long; anthers oblong, 1 mm. long, 0.4 mm. wide.. Female inflorescences 1–4 cm. long, terminal on short axillary branches bearing 1 or more leaves, 5–15-flowered; axis rarely once-branched; pedicels 3–5(–8) mm. long, often lengthening in fruit; bract reddish, thinly membranous, spathulate, apically dentate, 5.5–6 mm. long, 1.5 mm. wide; disc red-brown, membranous, divided into 6–8 free thin strap-like lobes 0.7–2 mm. long.. Ovary ovoid, 3.5–5 mm. long, 1.5–2 mm. wide; style very short, ± 1 mm. long; stigmas 4, each 6–7 mm. long, 2–3-lobed; axis, pedicel, ovary and outer surface of stigmas with abundant fairly long ± adpressed hairs.. Mature capsule ovoid, 7–15 mm. long, 4–8 mm. wide, with pedicel up to 7 mm., glabrous, rough with pale lenticels, longitudinally 4-furrowed, splitting along furrows into 2–4 valves.. Seed ovoid, (0.5–)1–2 mm. long, (0.2–)0.5–0.8 mm. wide, with large tuft of long fine white hairs ± 6 times seed-length.. Fig. 2.
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