Tree 10-30 m high, the trunk smooth, yellowish (ex labels), the young growth strigose, short pubescent, or subglabrous; hairs yellowish brown to whitish, up to ca. 0.3 mm long; young twigs subglabrous to densely pubescent or strigose, drying dark to light reddish-brown, the bark of older twigs becoming flaky, rough. LEAVES elliptic, obovate or oblanceolate, 4-20 cm long, 2-7.5 cm wide, 1.6-2.9 times as long as wide, when young moderately to sparsely pubescent or strigose (especially along veins below), or subglabrous, with age glabrescent; apex acute, acuminate, or rounded; base acute to rounded, sometimes oblique; petiole 3-6 mm long, 1-1.5 mm thick, strigose to glabrous, sometimes channeled; venation brochidodromous, the midvein flat to slightly raised above (or sulcate above, perhaps upon drying), prominent below, strigose to glabrous, the lateral veins 5-10 more or less prominent pairs, leaving the midvein at an angle of ca. 45 degree, arching towards apex, the marginal vein broadly arching between the laterals, 2-15 mm from the margin, the tertiary veins connecting the larger veins in an irregular dendritic pattern; blades coriaceous to submembranous, drying reddish brown (nearly black) to gray-green or light reddish brown. FLOWER BUDS pyriform, 4-6 mm long, the hypanthium obconic, 1-2 mm long, the distal portion of bud subglobose, 2.5-4 mm long; indumentum pattern of buds with all external surfaces glabrous, or the peduncles, inflorescence branches and bracteoles (and rarely hypanthium) puberulent to strigose, the petals and style glabrous, the staminal ring glabrous or puberulent; peduncles 1-3 flowered, 10-35 mm long, 0.5-1 mm wide, borne in the leaf axils or at leafless nodes, sometimes aggregated on bracteate shoots in a panicle-like inflorescence up to 6 cm long, the lateral arms of the dichasia up to ca. 10 mm long; bracteoles ovate, 0.8-1 mm long, caducous at about anthesis. CALYX open in bud, cup-like, with lobes broadly rounded and up to ca. 1 mm long before anthesis, tearing between lobes about 1.5 mm to staminal ring at anthesis; petals suborbicular, 3-5 mm long; hypanthium obconic to campanulate, flaring outward at summit of ovary, 1-2 mm long from bracteoles to summit of ovary; disk 4 mm across; stamens 130-220, 3-5 mm long; anthers up to ca. 0.5 mm long; style ca. 5 mm long; ovary (2-?) 3-4-locular; ovules 20-32 per locule. FRUIT subglobose, 1-1.5 cm wide; seeds 2-24 in fruits seen, 4-7 mm long, angular. Revised L. R. Landrum, 2015-06-11