Liane 3–3.6 m. long, with flowers mostly borne on short vertical shoots which seem not to twine; stems rather slender, brown, ridged, covered with adpressed rather bristly hairs when young, later the epidermis peeling off.. Leaf-blades elliptic to oblong-elliptic, 4–12.5 cm. long, 2–6.5 cm. wide, acuminate at the apex, broadly cuneate or rounded at the base, with rather sparse subscabrid adpressed hairs above, with dense subscabrid adpressed hairs on the venation below and white tomentum on the surfaces between, the undersurface thus appearing grey; petiole 0.4–3 cm. long, pubescent; stipules leafy, ovate-elliptic, 5–7 mm. long, 2–4 mm. wide, ± acute, reflexed, glabrous on inner face, i.e. that turned to the light, adpressed hairy on the outer face.. Flowers in axillary paniculate several–many-flowered ± sessile clusters; pedicels 4 mm. long, adpressed pubescent; bracts small and not in any way forming an involucre.. Calyx-tube subglobose, 1.3 mm. long, adpressed pubescent; tubular part of limb 1 mm. long, adpressed pubescent to glabrous; lobes ovate to oblong-elliptic, 1–2(–2.5) mm. long, 1 mm. wide, subacute or ± obtuse, reflexed, glabrous inside and outside or with scattered hairs on the margin and outside.. Corolla dull purple flushed, pale yellow towards the base of the tube or tube greenish with inner surface of lobes red-brown; tube 7–8.5 mm. long, the upper half or third adpressed pubescent outside, the lower glabrous; ring of hairs at the mouth of the tube shining white; lobes ovate-triangular 1.2–1.5 mm. long, 1 mm. wide, adpressed hairy outside.. Style 7 mm. long in long-styled flowers, stigmas and style-arms shining white, together 2.5 mm. long and just overtopping the lobes.. Fruit glistening white, globose, ± 0.85–1 cm. in diameter (alive), very soft with crimson juice inside.. Fig. 71/11, 12.
Home