Trees to 25 m tall, bole to 15 m tall, dbh to 60 cm; outer bark smooth and c. 2 mm thick, unfissured and pale-brown to greyish-brown; inner bark 3–4 mm thick and redbrown; sapwood whitish with red or pink tinge. Leafy twigs 1.1–3.5 mm thick, glabrous or puberulous or velvety, trichomes simple, bark midbrown to very light brown or greyish and sometimes sparsely lenticellate. Leaves 18–42 cm long, (3–)5–9(–15)-foliolate, brown (to olive green) when dried. Petiole 2.5–8.5 cm long, 0.8–2.1 mm thick, terete or semi-terete slightly flattened adaxially, glabrous or puberulous or velvety, trichomes simple; petiolules ± terete, (of distal lateral leaflet) 1.5–10 mm long, 0.4–0.9 mm thick, glabrous or puberulous or velvety. Lamina (of distal lateral leaflet) (5.3–)7.2–14(–18.5) by 2.3–5(–6.5) cm, (of terminal leaflet) (6.4–)7.2–16.5(–19.5) by 2.4–5(–6.8) cm, (of basal leaflet) 4–12.5 by 1.9–5.5 cm, lateral leaflets on any one leaf of similar areas and basal leaflets usually 1 /4–112 of this area, ovate to elliptic (to lanceolate) the basal leaflets tending towards a smaller length/width ratio, base attenuate and slightly asymmetric, apex shortly acuminate, subcoriaceous, adaxial surface with no veins or only midrib prominent (in sicco), abaxial surface with only midrib and costae prominent (in sicco) and not glaucous (i.e. epidermis non-papillate) and glabrous to tomentose with simple decumbent to erect trichomes; 6–9(–15) (distal pair leaflet) or 7–10(–15) (terminal leaflet) or 6–9(–14) (basal leaflet) costae on either side of the midrib; glands absent. Inflorescences clustered around shoot apex or below in axils of fully expanded or expanding leaves, 1–6(–10) cm long at anthesis, each a very compact to open thyrse, branched up to second (to third) order (excl. pedicels) of which the first order branches are up to 7.5 cm long, primary rachis and all branches lacking lenticels and glabrous to tomentose with simple trichomes. Flowers hermaphrodite (with little pollen) or (on different plant) male only (with much pollen), just prior to opening cylindrical to cask-shaped, 3–3.6 mm long, 1.4–2.6 mm diam., at maximum opening 2.9–6 mm diam. Calyx 1.5–1.8 mm long, deeply 5-lobed, each lobe 0.8–1.2 mm long with a blunt apex. Petals 5, free and imbricate, 2.8–4.8 by 1.5–1.8 mm, narrow-elliptic to oblong, apex acute, pale green. Androecium ± cylindrical, 1.5–3.3 mm long, 0.9–1.8 mm diam., tubular for 1/4–1/2 of length, each filament linear or slightly narrowed towards the apex, filament apex bifid with erect to spreading teeth 0.4–0.5 mm long; anthers 0.4–0.5 mm long, glabrous or with a short tuft of trichomes from the apex, pink. Disk absent. Ovary very densely pubescent with short stiff trichomes, appearing golden or extremely rarely glabrous, 4–5-locular, each locule with one ovule. Style ± cylindrical, 0.4–0.6 mm long, 0.2–0.3 mm diam., glabrous to sparsely pubescent in the lower half. Stigma ± capitate and shortly two-lobed on top, excluding lobes 0.3– 0.5 mm high, 0.5–0.6 mm diam. at base, below the level of the anthers at maturity. Fruit a 1-or 2-seeded berry, ± globose, 1.3–1.8 cm diam., more or less rusty tomentose, with a short beak, 3–5 mm long, positioned asymmetrically on the fruit, pericarp coriaceous but lacking sclerenchyma, weakly laticiferous, parenchyma with high levels of tannins only. Seeds 0.8–1.3 cm long and ± ellipsoidal, dark brown and shining but lacking an aril.
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