Trees evergreen, up to 20 m tall, usually dioecious; bark brown; branches glabrous, with sparsely elevated lenticels. Petiole 7-17 cm, glabrous, apex with 2 stalked and cupular glands; leaf blade broadly ovate, 8-20 × 6-18 cm, pubescent on both surfaces when young, only abaxially pubescent along base of nerves at maturity, base cordate to truncate, margin entire or 2-5-fid, apex acute to acuminate, sinus usually with cupular glands. Inflorescences produced with new leaves, usually unisexual. Male flowers: calyx ca. 10 mm, 2-or 3-fid, glabrous; petals obovate, 2-3 cm, base clawed, white or purple-red at base and with purple-red nerve-stripes; stamens 8-10; filaments hairy, outer filaments free, inner filaments connate at and below middle. Female flowers: calyx and petals as in male; ovary densely brown pubescent, 3-locular; styles 3, bipartite. Drupes ovoid, 3-5 cm in diam., longitudinally 3-angular, between angles with sparsely reticulate wrinkles, 3-seeded. Seeds compressed globose; seed coat thicker, verrucose. Fl. Apr-Jun, fr. Jul-Oct.
Male flowers: pedicels up to 1 cm long, subglabrous; buds 1–1.3 × 0.5 cm, ovoid-ellipsoid, apiculate, rupturing for half to two-thirds of their length into 2(3) subequal or unequal lobes, glabrous; petals 1.5–2.5 × 0.7 cm, oblanceolate-spathulate, unguiculate, rounded, pubescent within on the claw, otherwise glabrous, white; disk glands 3–4 mm long, erect, subulate, sometimes bifid, fleshy, whitish; staminal column 20 mm high, the outer stamens c. 15 mm long, filaments pubescent at the base, otherwise glabrous, anthers c. 2 × 1 mm.
Leaf blades 4–20 × 4–18 cm, broadly ovate, entire or 3-lobed, leaf blade and lobes acutely acuminate at the apex, entire on the margins, truncate to cordate at the base, usually with 2 turbinate glands 1–3 mm long adaxially at the base, and with one gland in each sinus of the lobed leaves, 3–5-nerved from the base, glabrescent except at the base.
Female flowers: pedicels extending to 15 mm long in fruit; calyx and petals as in the male flowers; disk glands 1–2 mm long, triangular-lanceolate, sometimes bifid; ovary 5 × 3 mm, ovoid-ellipsoid, trigonous, narrowing into the styles, densely ferrugineous-tomentose; styles c. 8 mm long, pubescent at the base, stigmas glabrous.
Male inflorescences 15 × 15–20 cm, broadly corymbiform, branching from the base; lower bracts 5–6 × 2–3 cm, foliaceous, elliptic-ovate to linear-lanceolate, persistent, progressively smaller and less persistent upwards. Flowers appearing with the leaves (coaetaneous).
Young shoots, base of leaves, inflorescence branches and young fruits crisped ferrugineous-pubescent.
Fruit c. 3.5 × 4 cm, ovoid-subglobose, apiculate, 3(5)-ridged, laxly reticulate, glabrescent.
Seeds 2–2.5 × 2–2.5 cm, broadly compressed-ovoid, ± smooth, brownish.
Female inflorescences resembling the male, but often smaller.
A tree up to 15 m tall with a large crown, subdioecious.
Stipules 2–4 × 1 mm, lanceolate, ciliate.
Petioles 1–25 cm long, ± glabrous.
Inflorescences usually unisexual.
Bark smooth or roughened, grey.
Wood soft.