Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Branched shrubs 1–3 m tall.

Stems: Stems angled or sometimes slightly winged, moderately or sometimes densely short–hispid.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Opposite. Blades narrowly elliptic, elliptic, or sometimes elliptic–oblanceolate, 4–12 (–16.5) cm long, 1.5–4.5(–7.3) cm wide. Apex acute to abruptly acuminate. Base cuneate or attenuate. Upper surfaces glabrous; lower surfaces sparsely hispidulous, especially when young; pale green on lower surface, glossy, membranous. Margins flat. Upper surface with veins slightly impressed. Petioles 0–1 cm long. Stipules interpetiolar, may also be intrapetiolar, membranous, connate into a cup (2.5–)3–6 mm long, distinct from petioles, caducous.

Flowers: Flowers in inflorescences terminal, flowers 1 or sometimes up to 11, in sessile cymes, pedicels 3–7 mm long, elongating slightly in fruit, bracts and bracteoles linear to narrowly spatulate, 3–12 mm long. Flowers bisexual (perfect) or functionally unisexual, actinomorphic. Calyx lobes 5, large and foliaceous, sepals united at base, imbricate, distinctly unequal, rhombic–oblanceolate, rhombic–obovate, rhombic, or sometimes suborbicular, 15–31 mm long, 6–21 mm wide, the innermost pair as short as 13 mm long, ca. 4 mm wide, conspicuously 5–11–nerved, short–hispidulous at base or sparsely so throughout, inner surface of Calyx often with colleters at the base, margin mostly fimbriate. Corolla 5-merous, dark to golden yellow, 15–25 mm long, campanulate to rotate, the tube flaring in upper part, 7–13 mm long, sparsely to moderately hirsute, the lobes 5–7, narrowly deltate, 6–14 mm long, apex acute, white hirtellous on the tube within and on lower part of lobes, lobes imbricate or contorted in bud. 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 broadly ellipsoid; ellipsoid; or ovoid–ellipsoid; 11–17(–24) mm long; sparsely hirtellous; 3–valved or sometimes 2–valved; valves with a keel or wing 1.5–5 mm wide; apex with a beak 2.5–5 mm long; septicidal to sub–septifragal; maturing to green; with or without a black–purple tinge; usually becoming brown–black when over–mature. Seeds ± 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; reddish brown; ca. 1.4–1.5 mm long; endosperm oily; proteinaceous; with saccharose or hemicellulose; embryo small; straight.

Ploidy: 2n = ca. 80* as "<i>L. fagroidea</i>"

Habitat: Scattered to relatively common in mesic to wet forest.

Elevation Range: 360–1,280 m.