Tree up to 20 m, occasionally a straggling shrub or liana; young branches with a dense tomentum or a fine pubescence which may persist on the leafy branches or these may quickly become glabrous. Leaves broadly ovate or elliptic to narrowly elliptic, rarely lanceolate or more or less orbicular, usually of moderate size (10-13 cm long) but frequently up to 32 by 13 cm and occasionally much smaller (7.5 by 2 cm); base rounded or cuneate, apex apiculate, mar-gin entire or occasionally with a few obscure dentations or rarely serrate, either quickly losing all or most of their original pubescence, or the tomentum may persist on both sides of the blade, but more especially below, sometimes as a thick woolly coating over the entire undersurface; principal veins conspicuous below, arching strongly or more gradually towards the apex; petiole 3-14 mm, pubescent or gla-brous. Monoecious. Inflorescences axillary, supra-axillary or terminal, usually pleiochasia with the lower lateral branches again branched or reduced to simple dichasia, densely pubescent throughout or glabrous. Male flowers ovoid or globose, usually pubescent on the outside, 2.5-4 mm ø; tepals 4, rounded, the wall thick, leathery, enclosing a cavity either confined to the upper half of the receptacle or extending to near the base; stamens 4, 1 — 1.5 mm long, filaments pilose. Female flowers globose or somewhat depressed, 3.5-4.5 mm ø, usually pubescent outside, pilose within, sometimes longitudinally furrowed when dry; ostiole small, surrounded by 4 minute or obsolescent tepals; the cavity large; carpels numerous, 1.5-2 mm long, ovary slender, pilose, stigma subulate. Fruiting receptacle enlarged to c. 2 cm ø. Drupes stipitate or more or less sessile; stipes woody, to 10 mm long; achenes ovoid to c. 13 by 10 mm, verruculose.
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Small tree, 12 m high. Leaves glabrous or sparsely pubescent on lower surface; petiole 8–12 mm long; lamina elliptic, oblong-elliptic to ovate or obovate, 11.5–19 cm long, 4.5–8 cm wide, cuneate, entire (juvenile leaves coarsely toothed), acute or bluntly acuminate to obtuse; midrib prominent on both surfaces, flattened above, raised beneath. Male flowers ± globose, c. 3 mm diam.; tepals as 2 pairs; stamens as 2 pairs, filaments pubescent. Female inflorescences 2–3 cm long, (1–) 2–5-flowered, densely pubescent. Female flowers ± globose, c. 4 mm diam.; tepals 4 around a small ostiole; carpels c. 50–60, c. 2 mm long; ovary densely pubescent; stigma elongate, with pubescence extending up sides. Fruiting receptacle yellow to orange. Drupes ovoid, c. 13 mm long, 10 mm wide, black.
An understorey tree in rain-forest, mostly at low altitudes, but also in montane forest up to 2450 m. It is recorded from seasonally inundated swamps and from ridge forest. Usually a moderate sized tree with a spreading crown, it may also be a straggling shrub and occasionally is described as a liana.
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Grows in rainforest, at around 150 m alt.
Uses. The wood is used for clubs (Isago village, Balimo district, Western Prov.). Pipe tobacco rolled in the leaves (Butemu village, Saidor Distr., Madang Prov.).
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