Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Small branched trees 2.5–5 m tall with dense rounded crown.

Stems: Trunk with dbh 10–20 cm, the twigs glabrate.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Alternate. Blades broadly ovate to very broadly ovate, 7–9 cm long, 6.5–8.4 cm wide. Apex acute to weakly acuminate or broadly obtuse. Base deeply cordate, occasionally shallowly so. Upper surfaces glabrate or with scattered small, translucent stellate trichomes on principal veins; lower surfaces with few scattered stellate trichomes on principal veins or glabrate, with sparse tufts of stellate trichomes in major vein axils, when young with scattered stellate trichomes along margins and at junction with petiole; blades thin-coriaceous, drying chartaceous. Margins entire to irregularly crenate or toothed. Principal veins 5 (7), the margins irregularly and coarsely crenate–dentate. Petioles 2.8–5.8 cm long bearing scattered stellate trichomes when young, glabrate. Stipules subulate, 3–5 mm long, sparsely stellate–pubescent.

Flowers: Flowers solitary, the peduncles 1.4–2.1 cm long, sparsely stellate pubescent; involucral bracts 4–6, free essentially to their base, 11–15 mm long, 1.8–4 mm wide, linear–oblong. Flowers bisexual (perfect). Calyx tubular, 1.3–1.5 cm long (up to 1.7 cm when fresh), green, shallowly 5-lobed, the lobes 2–3 mm long, sometimes in age splitting further, moderately densely pubescent with stellate trichomes composed of 5–9 horizontal radiating arms free to their base, sepals connate, the lobes valvate in bud, persistent in fruit or circumscissilly dehiscent toward base before capsule maturity. Corolla usually zygomorphic, tubular to rotate or reflexed, the corolla of 5 petals, obovate, 45–47 mm long, stellate pubescent, yellow with coppery tinge when fresh, rapidly becoming purplish maroon, the lobes 35– 40 mm long, 10–12 mm wide, with conspicuous veins, moderately stellate pubescent with trichomes restricted to veins in inner ⅓ of lobes abaxially. Stamens monadelphous, forming a staminal column, exserted ca. 7 mm beyond corolla lobes; anthers monothecal. Pollen globose, echinate. Ovary superior, 7 mm long, 4–5 mm wide, 5-angled, placentation axile, 5-celled; ovules (2)3 per cell, stellate pubescent, endocarp segments apparently 10 (in cross section); style exceeding the staminal column; style branches 5, erect, villous; stigmas ca. 1 mm long, subglobose, reddish brown, villosulous, exserted 14 mm beyond corolla lobes.

Fruit: Fruit unknown. Seeds not known.

Ploidy:

Habitat: Steep slope of predominantly basalt talus with patches of brown soil and leaf litter in remnant diverse lowland mesic forest.

Elevation Range: 990–1020 m