Semi-deciduous shrub or tree (1-)2-6(-10) m. tall, with dense rounded crown and dark grey or black rough deeply fissured corky bark; branchlets with reddish spreading hairs, setulae and glandular hairs; roots with black dye. Leaves drying greenish black or reddish brown, oblong, obovate or obovate-elliptic to obovate-oblong, 1.3-12 cm. long, 1-6.8 cm. wide, acute, obtuse, rounded or shortly acuminate at the apex, rounded to subcordate at the base, sometimes ciliate at the margin, almost glabrous to densely pubescent on the lower surface save for the puberulous to tomentellous or pilose-tomentose nerves; lateral nerves in 5-6 pairs, the tertiary nerves and venation forming a reticulum drying darker than the blade on the lower surface; petiole 0.4-1.5 cm. long. Male flowers 3-7, 4-merous in cymes in the axils of reduced leaves and nearest true leaves towards the base of current year’ s growth or rarely solitary; peduncles up to 1.5 cm. long; pedicels 0.8-1.5 cm. long, pilose and glandular; bracts opposite, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, up to 5 mm. long, 3 mm. wide; calyx valvate-reduplicate, 3-4 mm. long, deeply lobed; calyx-lobes triangular to ovate-acuminate, pale tomentellous on both sides; corolla white, yellowish or greenish white, 4-6 mm. long, lobed almost to the base; corolla-lobes rounded to acute, minutely setulose, reflexed at the apex; disk undulate, glabrous; stamens 8, 3 mm. long, the filaments very short, hairy above; anthers yellow, lanceolate, 2.5 mm. long, densely silky pubescent; rudimentary ovary conical, minutely tomentellous to almost glabrous with 8 uniovulate locules; styles 4, glabrous. Female flowers similar; staminodes 8, 1.5-2 mm. long; antherodes densely hairy; ovary conical, 1.5-2 mm. long, tomentellous to almost glabrous, with 8 locules; styles united at base, glabrous. Fruit yellowish, globose, 1.5-3 cm. in diameter, setulose-puberulous; calyx strongly accrescent concealing the fruit, the lobes lanceolate or triangular to broadly ovate, 2.5-4 cm. long, 1.5-2.5 cm. wide, membranous with prominent venation, puberulous. Seeds 8 or fewer, dull brown, 0.9-1.4 cm. long, 5-7 mm. wide; testa smooth or slightly reticulate; endosperm shallowly ruminate.