Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Trees up to 10 m tall.

Stems: Young branches 1.5–3 mm in diameter toward apex, coarsely spreading to appressed hirtellous.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Opposite. Blades elliptic to oblanceolate, 4–11(–14.5) cm long, 1.7–5.5(–7.5) cm wide. Apex acute to obtuse. Base acute to obtuse or rounded. Upper surfaces sometimes hirtellous at least on nerves; lower surfaces hirtellous at least on midrib, domatia somewhat elevated, porate, usually glabrous; blades chartaceous, domatia somewhat elevated, porate, usually glabrous, often scattered over blade. Margins entire and often ciliate. Lateral veins 6–9 on each side of midrib, often reddish pellucid. Petioles 5–20 mm long, spreading to appressed hirtellous. Stipules deltate to ovate, strongly imbricate in bud, caducous, 5.5–12 mm long, 2.5–5 mm wide, acute, upper surface villous toward base, lower surface appressed hirtellous; stipules usually bearing mucilage-producing colleters on inner surface that aid in protection of the growing shoot tip.

Flowers: Staminate flowers 3-7 in cymes, peduncles (8-)14-20(-45) mm long, ca. 1 mm wide, often recurved. Pistillate flowers solitary. Flowers insect-pollinated, functionally unisexual, 4-merous, often heterostylous. Calyx limb persistent in fruit. Staminate flower: calyx limb funnelform to tubular, truncate to undulate or sometimes broadly 2-lobed and boat-shaped, 0.5–2 mm long, sparsely pubescent to glabrous; Pistillate flower: calyx limb as in staminate flowers, 1–2 mm long. Corolla greenish to yellowish or sometimes white. Staminate flower corolla salverform, the tube 6.5–10 mm long, ca. 1.5 mm wide, glabrous or rarely sparsely pubescent externally, villous near base within, the lobes 3–4 mm long, ca. 2 mm wide, acute; Pistillate flower corolla funnelform, the tube 5–7 mm long, ca. 2 mm wide, the lobes 2–3.5 mm long, ca. 2 mm wide. Nectary disk usually present. Stamens as many as and alternate with the corolla lobes. Staminate flower anthers subsessile, inserted in corolla throat, ca. 3.5 mm long and 0.5 mm wide; pistillate flower staminodia ca. 2.5 mm long; anthers dithecal, opening by longitudinal slits. Ovary inferior, occasionally partly so, or very rarely superior (pistillate flower), subglobose, ca. 3 mm long, 4(10)–celled; style 1, up to 6.5 mm long, glabrous; stigmas 5, linear, unequal, 1.5–2.5 mm long, exserted, lobed or capitate, dry or occasionally wet. Staminate flower abortive ovary 1–2 mm long, 2(3)–celled; style subterete, up to 4.5 mm long, subglabrous; stigmas 2, linear, up to 1.2 mm long.

Fruit: Fruit drupaceous; globose to obovoid; 6–10 mm in diameter; the pyrenes (2)3–5(–10); thick–walled; 1–seeded; purplish to black. Seeds without endosperm.

Ploidy:

Habitat: Occurring in mesic to wet forest and margins of bogs; but probably also occupying drier habitats.

Elevation Range: 260–1,280 m.