Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Branched shrubs 1–2 m tall.

Stems: Stems obscurely to conspicuously angled, glabrous to sometimes moderately appressed short–hispidulous.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Opposite. Blades oblanceolate to elliptic, 5–8 cm long, 2–3 cm wide. Apex acuminate, acute, or obtuse. Base narrowly cuneate to a subtruncate base. Upper surfaces glabrous; lower surfaces glabrous or sparsely short–hispidulous, sometimes only along veins or on midvein at base, medium green on upper surface; lower surfaces pale green, subcoriaceous. Margins ± slightly revolute. Upper surface with veins slightly impressed. Petioles 0.2–1 cm long, glabrous. Stipules interpetiolar, may also be intrapetiolar, membranous, connate into a cup 3–4 mm long, adnate in lower ⅓–½ to petiole, glabrous except short–hispidulous at base, quickly splitting and eventually deciduous.

Flowers: Flowers 3–9 in terminal, subsessile cymes, peduncles 0–1(–6) mm long, pedicels 4–6 mm long, bracts and bracteoles filiform, 3.5–4.5 mm long, glabrous. Flowers bisexual (perfect) or functionally unisexual, actinomorphic. Calyx lobes 5-merous, unequal, ovate to narrowly lanceolate, sometimes narrowly oblong–lanceolate, rarely elliptic, 6–11 mm long, 1.8–3.6 mm wide, inner ones shorter and narrower, imbricate, inconspicuously 3–5–nerved, glabrous to short–hispidulous at base, sepals united at base, inner surface of Calyx often with colleters at the base, margin mostly fimbriate. Corolla 5-merous, campanulate to rotate, orangish yellow, 13–26 mm long, the tube 8–17 mm long, glabrous or sometimes very sparsely short–hispidulous, the lobes imbricate or contorted in bud, narrowly deltate, 6.5–12 mm long, apex acute, white hirtellous on the tube within and on lower part of lobes. 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. Ovary superior or partly inferior, carpels hairy or glabrous, 2– or 3-locular, sometimes partitions imperfect in upper part of ovary; ovules numerous, amphitropous, placentation axile; style terminal, mostly short; stigma clavate, ellipsoid, to globular, sometimes ± oblong, about as large as ovary.

Fruit: Capsules ovoid–ellipsoid; 11–16 mm long; 2(3)–valved; valves keeled in upper ½; keel 0.3–1 mm wide; apex with a slender beak 2–2.5 mm long; septicidal to sub–septifragal; maturing to green; with or without a black–purple tinge; usually becoming brown–black when over–mature. Seeds brown to black ± 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; narrowly ovoid–ellipsoid; ca. 1.5 mm long; endosperm oily; proteinaceous; with saccharose or hemicellulose; embryo small; straight.

Ploidy:

Habitat: Occurring in stunted wet forest on cloud swept summits.

Elevation Range: 550–820 m.