Shrub or small tree 3–18 ft. high; branches slender, woody. Leaves clustered at the ends of the twigs and scattered lower down, shortly petioled, thinly coriaceous, oblanceolate-oblong, acute or acuminate, narrowed from beyond the middle to the acute base which is often contracted into a narrowly winged pseudopetiole, margin entire, 8–15 in. long, 2 1/2–4 in. wide, glabrous on both surfaces; petiole 1/8– 1/4 in. long. Racemes peduncled, from the axils of the upper leaves; rhachis rather loosely pubescent; bracts ovate, acute, flat or nearly so and reflexed, densely pubescent on both surfaces; pedicels rather densely pubescent, slender, 3/4–1 in. long, 1–3 to a bract. Male sepals 3, ovate-triangular, acute, densely pubescent externally, reflexed in flower, 1/6 in. long. Stamens numerous; filaments slender, over 1/2 in. long. Female sepals 5, ovate-lanceolate, acute, densely pubescent on both surfaces, reflexed in flower, 1/4 in. long. Ovary 3-celled, densely pubescent, each cell with two rather long narrow triangular dorsal horns; styles 3, densely hirsute, connate in their lower fourth. Capsule not seen.
