Shrub or treelet 0.5-8 m tall; branch bark dark red-brown to dark grey, with short longitudinal fissures, mostly glabrous; lenticels absent, rarely few Leaves simple, rigid-coriaceous, drying pale green above, green-brown beneath, matt or shiny, young leaves with dense indument on both sides, furfuraceous, dark-brown to dark red-brown beneath, sometimes persistent above, glabrescent, sometimes remaining as grey or black patches; petiole well defined, (0.3-)1.5-6 cm long x 3.5-4 mm broad at midlength, grooved towards blade, rugose, glabrescent; blade wide-elliptic or wide-ovate, rarely ovate, (3.5-)6-14 x (1.5-)4-10 cm (length:breadth 1-2:1), base obtuse to rounded to truncate, rarely acute, usually symmetrical, often folded, apex acute, obtuse or rounded, margin entire, very rarely with 2-3 pairs of large crenations, not revolute, rim markedly thickened; venation conspicuous above, often more so than below, midvein narrowly and shallowly grooved, secondary veins slightly impressed to slightly raised above, raised beneath (tertiary venation obscure beneath), semicraspedodromous, branching very irregular, often angular, midvein generally reaching apex; secondary veins 3-6 pairs. Inflorescence axillary, unbranched, overtopping leaves, 10-25 x 1.8-2.5 cm, becoming thickened and woody, furfuraceous, hairs short, close-appressed, dark red-brown, swollen at base; peduncle 0.8-2 cm x 1.5-2.8 mm; sterile bracts few towards base; common bracts 0.6-1 x 0.4-0.8 mm, margin dark red fimbriate; flower-pair axis absent; pedicels 2-4.5 x 0.5-1 mm. Flower buds 1.2-1.8 mm broad at apex, 0.8-1.3 mm broad at midlength, robust, square in cross section, dark brown or purple-grey, hairs swollen-based, short, sparse especially towards apex, dark red. Flowers 6-12 cm long; filaments 0.5-1 mm long, attached to tepals 4.5-9 mm from base, anthers 2-3 x 0.4-0.7 mm; hypogynous glands 0.4-0.6 mm long, lobes in contact at base; ovary hairs extending 2.5-4 mm from base, covering entire ovary and base of style, short-strigose, dark red to red-brown. Infructescence (5-)12.5-14.5 cm long, glabrous or glabrescent; fruit pedicels 3-4.5 x (1.2-)1.5-2.5 mm. Fruit oval, (1.8-)3-3.8 x (1.1-)1.3-1.9 cm, sutured and unsutured sides curved +/-to same degree, marginal vein strong, raised, running around periphery of fruit, base constricted for 3-5 mm, apex a small point, constricted ca. 1.5 mm or less, style sometimes persistent; seeds 1.7-2.7 x 0.7-1 cm.
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