Large woody climber up to c. 20 m. Stem glabrous with supra-axillary tufts of triangular to subulate scales 1-3 mm long; main stems up to c. 1.5 cm ø, covered with flaky bark. Leaves with glabrous petioles (6—)10—19 cm; lamina broadly ovate to suborbi-cular (11-)16-22(-27) by (7-)10-17(-22) cm, apex very acutely acuminate or obtuse, base rounded, margin sometimes slightly repand; upper surface smooth and slightly shining, usually with a raised, very minute reticulation, sometimes ± minutely areolate; lower surface usually with minute, raised reticulation (often with minute epidermal ridges run-ning along and between the nervules); papyraceous to coriaceous. Male inflorescences very large (? up to c. 100 cm) arising from old, leafless stems, occa-sionally axillary, composed of compound umbelli-form cymes 10—730 cm long, with stout peduncles arranged racemosely among and subumbellately at the end of a long axis, minutely puberulous to gla-brous. Male flowers white with pedicels 1-4 mm; sepals 6, ± oblong-elliptic, 1.25-2.5 mm long, gla-brous; petals 3, usually ± broadly obovate, (0.25-) 0.75-1.5 mm long, glabrous; synandrium 0.5 mm long. Female inflorescence similar to male but smaller. Female flowers: sepals 3, petals 3, both similar to male; carpel c. 1 mm. Drupe on pedicel 2-6 mm, broadly obovate to suborbicular in outline, 7-10 by 6-8 mm. Endocarp perforate or imperforate, surface either rough all over, and dorsally bearing 4 longitudinal rows of 9-14 short papilli-form processes (sometimes joined transversely) or surface smooth, and dorsally bearing ± longitudinal rows of 9-10 T-shaped ridges.
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