Erect, much branched shrub or treelet, rarely small tree, (0.3-)1.5-4 (sometimes up to 10) m; trunk up to 15 cm across. Branchlets terete, slender, glabrous, early greyish corticate. Leaves either clustered at the ends or scattered, though rather close together in the upper part of each year's shoots, mostly ovate-or elliptic-lanceolate, more rarely ovate, sometimes rather narrowly lanceolate or almost elliptic, variable both in shape and size, apex gradually long or more shortly acuminate, subacute, base broadly cuneate to almost rounded, glabrous, pinkish to reddish in young shoots, at maturity glossy, dark green above, light green beneath, subcoriaceous, flat, entire, normal ones (2.5-)3-5(-7.5, rarely up to 8.5) by (0.5-)1-2(-2¾, occasionally up to 3½) cm, in microforms reduced to 12-16 by 2½-4 x/2 mm, 5-7 (rarely 9)-plinerved, main nerves somewhat prominent on both faces, each nerve giving way to numerous less prominent ascending or sometimes rather obsolete veins or streaks which are crossing each other and form a kind of fine network between the main nerves; petiole rather slender, grooved above, (2-)3-4(-7) mm. Flowers bisexual, arranged in terminal and axillary solitary or terminally clustered, suberect spikes; rachis stoutish, glabrous or laxly to subdensely puberulous, (1.5-)2-4(-5) cm; perulae several, small. Subtending bract ovate-oblong, striate, 1.5-2 mm, subpersistent. Bracteoles 2, ovate, keeled, striate, ciliate, c. 1.2 mm. Sepals subovate, obtuse, indistinctly striate, ciliate, c. 2 mm. Corolla white or whitish green or pink, subcylindric, tube 2-2½ mm, lobes suberect, 1-1½ mm, bearded to the middle as well as the upper part of the tube inside with retrorse hairs, otherwise glabrous. Anthers narrow-oblong, c. 1.25 mm, exserted for about half their length. Disk shortly 5-lobed. Ovary subglobose, glabrous, tapering to a thick style (1 mm). Fruit depressed-globular, 6-8 by 4-5 mm, dull, bluish-blackish and often a little pruinose at full maturity, the (8-)10(-11) pyrenes very close together with scanty mesocarp tissue between them forming a semi-globose, sharply 10-ribbed, almost compact kind of stone for a long time, finally separable from each other, surrounded by a rather abundant pulpy mesocarp.
Home