Tree 20-25 m; ultimate branchlets covered with a dense golden-brown or rusty tomentum; branches terete, with greyish bark and few elliptic lenticels. Leaves oblong or slightly obovate-oblong, acute-acuminate, rarely obtuse, cuneate to rounded at the base, subcoriaceous, brownish-olivaceous above, paler and more ferrugineous beneath when dry, shining and glabrous above, dull beneath, (15-)18-30 by (7-)8-12(-14) cm; midrib flat or slightly immersed above, very prominent beneath, nerves (5-)6-8(-9) pairs, suberect, little anastomosing at the margin, little or not prominent above (but often markedly dark-coloured), manifestly so beneath, veins transverse and prominent beneath, reticulations rather dense, little but visibly raised on both sides; petiole rather thick, ferrugineous-tomentose, 2½-5(-8½) cm. Racemes said to be 'cauline', but as far as seen from dried material, apparently axillary on defoliate twigs, mostly solitary, sometimes fascicled, ♂ ones very slender and (15-)20-55 cm, female ones stouter, 8-15 cm, less densely set with flowers, always densely golden-brown, nearly hirsute-tomentose. ♂ Flowers: pedicels 1 mm. Calyx lobes 4, c. 1 mm, densely ferrugineous-pilose outside, glabrous inside. Petals 4, cream, oblong, subacute, 1.8 by 1 mm; scales ovate, 0.7 mm. Stamens 4, free, divergent, filaments 1 mm. Female flowers: pedicels 3-5 mm. Calyx lobes 2.5 mm. Petals 3 by 2 mm; scales very thick, l.5 mm. Staminodes 4, reduced to short glabrous filaments. Ovary subglobose, densely ferrugineous-hirsute. Fruit slightly depressed-globose (when 1-seeded, c. 2.5 cm diam.) or mostly a little transverse-oblong (when 2-seeded, 2½ by 3-3.5 cm), dark brown, initially tomentose, but soon glabrescent and somewhat rough. Seeds oval-semiglobose, c. 2-2.5 by 1.5 cm.
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