Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Trees to 10 m, flowering at 2 m.

Stems: Stems solitary or clustered, bark mottled gray and tan, of thin exfoliating plates, branches gray–maroon with longitudinal fissures, bark flaky, branchlets gray, densely appressed–hairy, lenticels pale, round or lenticular spots.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Opposite. Blades elliptic or ovate, 5–8 cm long × 2–5 cm wide. Apex long acuminate. Base cuneate. Upper surfaces dark green, appressed–hairy; lower surfaces pale green, appressed–hairy, tufts of erect hairs in axils of secondary veins. Margins entire to repand. Veins pinnate, secondary veins 4–6 per side, evenly spaced, vein also present on leaf margin. Petioles 5–12 mm long. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers in inflorescences subglobose, 0.9–1.4 cm diam., 40–75–flowered; peduncle 40–60 mm; petaloid bracts white to slightly yellow, narrowly ovate, rhombic, or trullate, 4–7 × 3–6 cm, base cuneate, apex acuminate. Flowers bisexual (perfect) [unisexual]; perianth and androecium epigynous; hypanthium completely adnate to ovary, appressed–hairy. Calyx of 4 fused sepals, 1–1.5 mm long. Corolla of 4 petals; petals cream or yellow–green, 3–4 mm. Stamens 4. Ovary inferior, carpels 1, placentation apical; ovules 1 per locule, apotropous to epitropous; style 1; stigmas 2.

Fruit: Syncarps red; subglobose; 20–27 mm diam. stones ellipsoid; 7–9 × 4–5 mm; smooth. Seeds 1(–2) per fruit.

Ploidy:

Habitat: Disturbed areas; lawns.

Elevation Range: 0–1,000 m.