Shrub or small tree 0.9-7 m. tall (one mention of a scandent shrub, Richards 16042), deciduous, sometimes several-stemmed, with rather twisted branching; crown conical or irregularly rounded; bark blackish grey or dark grey-brown, rough, deeply fissured, flaking off in small oblong pieces; slash ± bright or dirty yellow; young shoots very densely hairy with short pubescence and setae up to 2 mm. long; older stems glabrous and with ± close set nodules. Leaves sometimes obscurely bullate, oblanceolate-oblong to narrowly oblong or elliptic, 1-9.5 cm. long, 0.65-4 cm. wide, rounded to acuminate at the apex, rounded to subcordate at the base, at first densely velvety silky pilose with long and short adpressed hairs later sparser and often only on nerves beneath but ± remaining over upper surface; venation drying reticulate and darker beneath; petiole (1-)2-5 mm. long. Male flowers 4-merous in usually 3-flowered axillary cymes; peduncles 3-5 mm. long; pedicels (4-)8-10 mm. long, thickened at apex; bracts and bracteoles lanceolate to oblong-oblanceolate, (2-)5-8 mm. long, (1-)1.5-4 mm. wide, all parts densely hairy with long and short hairs; calyx 4-5 mm. long, lobed for over 2/3 its length, densely sericeous pilose outside, tomentellous inside; calyx-lobes triangular-ovate; corolla sweet-scented, cream or greenish, 5-6 mm. long; corolla-tube 1.3 mm. long; corolla-lobes ovate, 3.75 mm. long, 3.3 mm. wide, spreading pilose towards base outside and with very short hairs above; stamens 8; filaments ± 0.3 mm. long; anthers 2.2 mm. long, densely silky fulvous hairy; rudimentary ovary 1.3 mm. long; styles 2 mm. long, united at the base; locules (?4-)6-8, sterile; disk with fringe of hairs, otherwise glabrous. Female flowers similar, slightly larger with more elliptic calyx-lobes; staminodes 8, pilose; ovary conical, 2 mm. long, 1.8 mm. wide, densely pilose; styles 4, 1.6 mm. long; locules 8, well developed. Fruit green with 4 yellow stripes turning yellow-green or yellow, subglobose, 1.5-2 cm. in diameter, finely velvety puberulous, glabrescent, the accrescent calyx-lobes lanceolate to ovate, 2.5-3 cm. long, 7-9.5 mm. wide, revolute near base; seeds reddish brown, oblong, 1.5 cm. long, 8 mm. wide, compressed; endosperm deeply ruminate. Fig. 2/10.
