Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Shrubs or occasionally small trees 1.5–2.5 m tall.

Stems:

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Alternate. Blades broadly oblanceolate, 9–14 cm long, 2–4 cm wide. Apex acute-acuminate. Base acuminate. Surfaces glabrous or sparsely pubescent. Margins usually toothed on the distal ½–2/3. Petioles 1–3 cm long. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers (3–)7–15 or more in open cymes 100–150 mm long, these as long as or longer than leaves, peduncles 40–110 mm long, with paired narrowly oblanceolate bracteoles 3–10 mm long subtending the pedicels. Flowers very fragrant; bisexual (perfect), strongly irregular. Calyx minute, 5–parted. Corolla funnelform–unilabiate, 5–parted, the tube split adaxially, white, often with purple lines on inner surface, glabrous, the tube (17–)24–30 mm long, the lobes (8–)12–15(–18) mm long, spreading, winged. Stamens 5, ± as long as corolla tube, distinct; anthers introrse, dithecal, opening by longitudinal slits, the pollen shed from the coherent anthers and collected by the indusium on the outgrowing style.

Fruit: Fruit drupaceous; 2–celled; dark purplish black; ovoid; 12–14 mm long; 6–8 mm in diameter; glabrous or sparsely pubescent. Seeds 1 to numerous; with oily endosperm.

Ploidy: 2n = 16*

Habitat: Occurring in wet forest and open areas.

Elevation Range: ca. 350 m.