Young twigs terete, generally straight, densely covered with a persistent brown tomentum; pith narrow. Leaves distichous (spirally arranged on terminal or crooked branches). Stipules (4-)5-9(-11) mm long, triangular, not appressed, with a distinct keel sometimes protracted into a slender tip, more or less striate, in Borneo persistent, otherwise the scars not conspicuous. Petiole (1-)2-8(-10) mm. Blade thin-coriaceous, to (8-)14-28(-37) by (3-)4-8(-10 ½) cm, widest at the middle to above, index 2.5-3.7(-4.4); base acute to (mainly in Borneo) narrowly cordate, top acuminate; midrib and veins flat above, prominent beneath, sometimes scarcely different in colour, sometimes lighter; no domatia; primary veins fairly regular and parallel, with distances in the order of 1 cm between, no smaller intermediate veins, secondary venation mostly distinct, scalariform, reticulation obscure; margin dentate, with often larger and smaller teeth alternating, to subentire; surfaces dull, brownish, often with a livid tinge, somewhat paler beneath, midrib and veins hairy beneath, to a smaller extent also above, seldom nearly glabrous. Flowers with up to c. 20 in dense axillary (sub)sessile clusters on twigs and sometimes also on branchlets; bracts acute, resembling the sepals, pedicels very short. Sepals c. 4-5 mm long, fleshy, hairy, the inner ones narrower than the outer and slightly exceeding them. Petals c. 5-7 mm long, strap-shaped but wider in the middle, top recurved, often the whole petal S-shaped, outside with a median band of appressed silvery hairs. Stamens with distinct fi-lamental tube, slender sometimes hairy filaments and small glabrous anthers; dorsal appendage 1/3 of the anther's length or shorter, ventral appendages none or vestigial. Ovary with its long appressed hairs obconical, ovules 6, style with patent hairs, glabrous towards the top. Fruit subtended by the persistent sepals, before dehiscence globose, hidden in a (mostly) dense, moss-recalling mass of more or less branched, hairy appendages on the valves, in all 1½-3½ cm ø. After dehiscence the seeds become visible, about 3 in number, ellipsoid, 4-7 mm long, evenly straw-coloured, glossy.
Primary forest, in humid places, sometimes recorded from heath-forest, swamp forest, light forest or forest edges, or secondary forest, mostly on sandy or loamy, rarely from calcareous soil; altitudes low, seldom up to 600 m.
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