Tree 25-35 m high. Stipules early caducous. Leaves 4-or 5-jugate; petiole 2.5-3 cm and rachis 7-12.5 cm long, pubescent when young, minutely puberulous, glabrescent. Leaflets coriaceous, elliptic, elliptic-oblong, rarely obovate-elliptic or elliptic-obovate, 3.5-14.5 by 1.8-6.5 cm, lower ones usually smaller than the upper ones; apex shortly acuminate to acuminate; base obtuse, rounded, slightly asymmetric; upper surface glossy and minutely sparsely puberulous, glabrescent and sometimes almost glabrous; lower surface glossy, puberulous especially on the midrib; petiolules very short, up to c. 5 mm, pubescent, glabrescent. Inflorescences paniculate, up to 30 cm long, lateral branches up to c. 7 cm long, both rachis and branches densely puberulous; bracts ovate to lanceolate, 3-4 mm long, puberulous on both surfaces; pedicels very short. Calyx unarmed, lanceolate, 6-9 by 2-3 mm, densely puberulous, densely appressed hairy inside. Petal slightly obovate-oblong or elliptic, 6-7 by c. 2 mm; outside densely puberulous and inside glabrous; margin villose. Stamens: united basal parts of the filaments very short; free filaments up to c. 10 mm, hairy; anthers perhaps all fertile, various in size, largest, ovoid-ellipsoid, c. 3.5 mm long, the others smaller. Ovary subsessile or very shortly stipitate, subrhomboid, c. 7 mm long, densely woolly, except with somewhat shorter hairs in the centre, 3-5-ovuled; style up to c. 12 mm, recurvate, glabrous or sparsely hairy in the basal part; stigma obscure. Pods on a stout peduncle (up to c. 8 mm), ellipsoid, sometimes suborbicular, 6-8.5 by 3.5-5.5 cm, flattened, covered with scattered, slender spines (on a thickly swollen base, profusely excreting resin which covers the pod surface, the spines then fallen), beak short, recurvate, c. 7 mm long; 2-or 3-seeded. Seeds suborbicular, compressed, c. 1.5 cm (c. 2 cm when fresh) in diam., blackish, smooth, on top of a large aril; aril larger or slightly smaller than the seed, wider than high, up to 1.7 cm (up to c. 2.5 cm when fresh) wide, wrinkled when dry.
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