Tree to 30 m high, the trunk buttressed, the bark smooth, black; twigs with brown or gray-brown, finely striate, often rugolse bark, the new growth striate, minutely scattered-puberulent to puberulent. Leaves alternate to opposite; petioles 0.3-2 cm long, subterete, striate, minutely scatttered-puberulent to puberulent, often with a puberulent line on the upper side; blades 6.5-15 cm long, 3-7.5 cm wide, subovate to elliptical to obovate, firmly chartaceous to coriaceous, the midrib and secondary veins distinct to prominent, glabrous to puberulent above, glabrous to puberulent beneath, often light in color, the base subcordate to rounded to cuneate-obtuse, the apex rounded to obtuse to acuminate-obtuse, the margin entire to irregularly undulate to irregularly repand-dentate particularly toward the apex. Inflorescences 3.5-5.5 cm long, umbellately 1-3-flowered, the peduncles 1.5-3 cm long, striate, often laterally flattened, glabrous to finely puberulent, the pedicels 0.8-1.3 cm long, striate, glabrous to finely puberulent. Flowers maroon with pale yellow stamens, 5-7 mm long, 6-8 mm in diam; sepals 6-7 mm long, 2-5 mm wide, ovate, at times acuminate, minutely to finely scattered-puberulent without and within, the margins densely puberulent; stamens 3-4.5 mm long, the filaments 0.5-1 mm long, finely puberulent to puberulent, the anthers 1-2.5 mm long, ellipti-cal to deltoid-lanceolate, finely puberulent to puberulent, opening by a lenticular pore at the apex, the connective prolonged into a finely puberulent to, puberulent awn 0.5-1 mm long; pistil 4-5 mm long, the ovary 2-2.5 mm long, ca 1.5 mm in diam, ovoid, usually 4-loculed, puberulent to pubescent, the style 2-2.5 mm long, puberulent on the basal 1/3, glabrous above, the apex entire. Capsule 1.5-2.5 cm long, ellipsoidal, 1-2-seeded, 4-valved; valves 1-3 mm thick, densely covered with easily detached spines; spines ca 2 mm long, clavate, puberulent with antrorse flat-tened trichomes, the apex often with several longer trichomes; seeds 1-1.2 cm long, 0.5-0.6 cm in diam, ellipsoidal, almost entirely covered with an irregular-margined aril firmly attached to the chalazal 1/4 of the seed.
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