Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Scandent shrubs or small trees, 2–6 m tall.

Stems: Stems dichotomously branched, young branches terete (cylindrical), glabrous.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Opposite. Blades lanceolate to elliptic–lanceolate, 7–14 cm long, 2–4 cm wide, membranous. Apex acuminate. Base cordate, ± asymmetrical. Surfaces dark green, veins not impressed on upper surface, glabrous. Margins flat, entire or rarely toothed. Petioles 1–3 mm long. Stipules completely connate, forming a truncate sheath 1–4 mm long, sometimes splitting with age slightly adnate to the base of the petioles, margins entire, sometimes ciliolate.

Flowers: Flowers in inflorescences terminal, flowers 3–14 (female flowers, 3–5 [–7]; male flowers, 3–14) in pendulous, open, paniculate cymes, glabrous throughout, peduncles weakly recurved, 40–50 mm long, elongating to 70–80 mm long in fruit, pedicels 10–25 mm long, elongating to up to 30 mm in fruit, bracts and bracteoles subulate, 1–2 mm long. Flowers unisexual, actinomorphic. Calyx 5-merous, calyx lobes connate to ca. 1/2 their length, imbricate, ovate–deltate, 1–4 mm long, 1–2.5 mm wide, inner surface of calyx often with colleters at the base, margins hyaline, ± ciliolate. Corolla 5-merous, pale yellowish green or greenish yellow, urceolate, 7–12 mm long, the tube 6–10 mm long, 1.5–2 mm in diameter (~ slightly enlarged at base 3.5–4 mm in diameter), outer surface glabrous to short–hairy, sparsely pilose within, lobes deltate–ovate, 1.5–2.5 mm long, imbricate or contorted in bud, apex short acuminate to rounded. Stamens 5, alternipetalous, attached to mouth of corolla, exserted, usually recurved after anthesis, glabrous or hairy; filaments mostly short; anthers 2-celled, introrse, connective often extended to form an apical appendage, opening by longitudinal slits.

Fruit: Capsules broadly ovoid to subglobose–ovoid or ellipsoid–ovoid; 9–20 mm long; two–valved; valves transversely wrinkled; not keeled; apex beak 1–2 mm long; septicidal to sub–septifragal; maturing to green; with or without a black–purple tinge; usually becoming brown–black when over–mature. Seeds ± winged at both ends or all around; embedded in juicy orange to red pulp; numerous; ellipsoid to subglobular; intruded on the hilar side; surface mostly minutely papillose to areolate; brown; 2–2.5 mm long; endosperm thick; fleshy; oily; proteinaceous; with saccharose or hemicellulose; embryo small; straight.

Ploidy:

Habitat: Rare in mesic forest on west–facing slopes of ravine; with well–drained; loose; rocky substrate.

Elevation Range: ca. 800 m.