Leaves obovate- or oblong-elliptical, very shortly pointed or abruptly cuspidate, rounded obtuse or slightly cordate at the base, at length firmly membranous or subcoriaceous, 1/2–1 ft. (or sometimes nearly 2 ft.) long, 1–8 in. broad, on the flowering shoots usually comparatively small. Peduncles extra-axillary or leaf-opposed, on young shoots or on short lateral twigs from wood of a previous year, 2–12 in. long. Bract leafy ovate or ovate-lanceolate near or above the middle or sometimes at the summit of the peduncle. Flowers 1 1/2–6 in. across, fragrant. Sepals acuminate or tapering, undulate. Outer petals more or less ovate-lanceolate, tapering, much crisped and undulate, greenish-white or yellowish, variegated with very dark blackish-red or purple-brown spots. Inner petals shortly clawed, lamina ovate-cordate broadly cordate or ovate, obtuse, more or less distinctly auricled at the base on each side; auricles incurved, pilose; the margin and sometimes the back of the petals are also more or less pilose or puberulous, 1/2– 1/3 as long as the outer petals. Stigma lobulate or nearly entire. Fruit large, globose, usually more or less distinctly longitudinally striate or obscurely ridged, with a thick woody pericarp, 4–6 in. diam.
