Shrub or small tree 2-4 m high, evergreen; branches more or less erect, sparingly branched, glabrous or, rarely, puberulous. Leaves very coriaceous, dark green and glossy above, glabrous or minutely papillose, paler and sometimes purplish beneath, ovate-elliptic to oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 5-10 cm long and 2-5 cm broad, cuneate or obtuse at the base, apex acute, rarely obtuse to rounded, mucronate; secondary nerves 5-10 on each side, usually distinct; margin revolute; petiole stout, transversely wrinkled, channelled above, 2-5 mm long. Inflorescence many-flowered, subsessile, contracted and corymbose or a short, dense raceme of cymes; bracts ovate, 1-5 mm long, caducous. Flowers sessile, white tinged with pink, scented. Calyx small, 2 mm long, puberulous or glabrous; sepals ovate-lanceolate, acute, often ciliate. Corolla salver-shaped; tube cylindric, wider near the apex and slightly contracted at the throat, 8-11 mm long, pubescent to subglabrous without, hairy within, lobes broadly ovate, abruptly acute, 2-2-5 mm long, pubescent. Stamens 5, situated in the throat, sub-sessile; anthers ovate, 1 mm long, apex almost glabrous. Ovary entire, 2-chambered, with one ovule in each locule; style filiform, 6-8 mm long; stigma small, conical with a minutely bifid hairy tip. Fruit an ellipsoid or subglobose berry, either small, 8-12 mm long and 6-8 mm in diameter, or large, 1-4-2 cm long and 1-1-5 cm in diameter, purplish black. Seeds 2 or 1 (by abortion), broadly elliptic in outline, flattened on one side, 6 mm long (in small fruits) or up to 1-2 cm long in large fruits. Fig. 36: 1.
