Shrub 10 ft. high, or sometimes a tree; branches slender, woody. Leaves both clustered at the ends of the twigs and scattered or subverticillate lower down, shortly petioled, thinly coriaceous, obovate-oblong, obtuse or subacute, narrowed from beyond the middle to the acute base, margin shortly crenulate except in the lower fourth, 4–6 in. long, 1 1/2–3 in. wide, glabrous on both surfaces; petiole 1/4– 1/3 in. long. Racemes spike-like, floriferous almost to the base, from the axils of the upper leaves; rhachis densely pubescent; bracts ovate, obtuse, concave, densely adpressed-silky externally; pedicels very short, pubescent. Male: Sepals 3, ovate-triangular, under 1/6 in. long. Stamens numerous; filaments slender, 1/3 in. long. Female: Sepals 5, silky externally, ovate, obtuse, not reflexed, 1/6 in. long. Ovary 3-celled, densely velvety, each cell with two short dorsal ridges; styles 3, densely pubescent, short, connate in their lower half. Capsule distinctly 6-winged, thick-walled, woody, apparently indehiscent, 3/4 in. across. Seeds spherical, 1/4 in. across.
