Description
Stem
Usually grows into a small tree not exceeding 30 cm dbh but occasionally flowers and fruits as a shrub.
Leaves
Twigs and petioles produce a milky exudate. Stipules small and inconspicuous, wedged between the petiole and the twig. Leaf blades about 7-10 x 3-5 cm, petioles about 0.5-1 cm long. Lateral veins about 8-15 on each side of the midrib, curving but not forming definite loops inside the blade margin. Both the upper and lower surfaces of the leaf blade hairy.
Flowers
Flowers about 12-20 mm diam. Calyx lobes about 1 mm long clothed in erect hairs. Corolla tube about 12 mm long, lobes about 10 mm long, margins usually flounced. Stamens attached above the middle of the corolla tube.
Fruit
Fruits produce a milky exudate when cut or damaged. Fruiting carpels about 10-20 x 10-15 mm, usually paired, +/- boat-shaped and attached by their sterns. Seeds about 7 x 4 mm, testa marked by grooves or furrows which intrude into the endosperm.
Seedlings
Cotyledons ovate to elliptic, about 20-25 x 15-20 mm, apex obtuse, base cuneate. Elongated ‘oil dots‘ visible with a lens. First pair of leaves ovate, about 3.5 x 1.5 cm, glabrous, margins smooth. At the tenth leaf stage: leaves elliptic, apex acuminate, base cuneate or attenuate; a short upright flange present in the leaf axil between the stem and petiole. Seed germination time 125 to 222 days.
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