Shrub or small tree 2.5--6(--10) m high, glabrous, or with a few minute hairs on disk and calyx within, or sparsely pubescent on young growth, sometimes densely so on vegetative buds; hairs if any minute, whitish or reddish brown; young twigs terete to flattened and sulcate, or quadrangular and often 4-winged, reddish-brown, the older twigs losing any wings in about 1 year, becoming gray or remaining reddish brown, remaining smooth or becoming slightly flaky. LEAVES elliptic, ovate, or lanceolate, 3.5--13 cm long, 2--5.6 cm wide, 1--3 times as long as wide, the margins entire or slightly sinuate; apex acute, acuminate, or obtuse, the tip often minutely mucronate; base cuneate, acuminate, rounded, rarely subcordate; petiole channeled, (0--)1--6 mm long, 0.5--2 mm wide; venation brochidodromous distally, eucamptodromous proximally, the midvein impressed to nearly flat above, prominent below, the lateral veins 6--13 pairs leaving the midvein at an angle of ca. 45--60 degrees, faint or prominent, impressed slightly to raised slightly above, broadly arching or nearly straight, diminishing near the margin or attaching to a well defined marginal vein, the marginal vein arching deeply, generally approaching within 1-2 mm of the margin, the tertiary veins dendritic, arising from adjacent larger veins; blades submembranous to subcoriaceous, drying dark reddish brown to grey-green, somewhat darker above than below, lustrous or dull above. FLOWER BUDS pyriforme to subfusiform, 7-13 mm long, sometimes constricted between upper and lower portions, the hypanthium obconic, ellipsoid, or campanulate, 3-5 mm long, the distal portion of bud globose to ovoid, 4-10 mm long; indumentum pattern of buds with all external surfaces glabrous to sparsely strigose on peduncles, bracteoles and hypanthium, the internal surfaces glabrous to sparsely puberulent on calyx within and disk; peduncles 1--3 flowered, 1—5.5 cm long, 0.5--1.5 mm wide, the side branches of the dichasium ca. 1 cm long; bracteoles caducous before anthesis, 1—1.5 mm long, narrowly triangular to elliptic. CALYX closed, often apiculate, or nearly closed with a smooth edged terminal pore, with no lobes evident, tearing irreguarly at anthesis in 2--5 persistent pieces, these 0.1--0.3 mm thick when dry, the tears usually not cutting the staminal ring; petals obovate to elliptic, 1--2 cm long; disk 4--8 mm across; stamens 160—580(-800), 7--15 mm long; anthers 0.8—1.5 mm long, usually with a large terminal gland (occasionally without) and 1-4 smaller glands below in the connective; style 8--15 mm long, the stigma peltate, 0.5- 0.7 mm across; ovary (2--)3—4(--5) locular, the placenta more or less peltate; ovules 2--3-seriate on each placental lamella, ca. 22--65 per locule. FRUIT subglobose, 1.5--5 cm in diameter, the fruit wall 1-3 mm thick; seeds 18-- 100 or more, angular C-shaped, or irregular, 6—9(--12) mm long, the coat 0.5--2 mm thick. Revised by L. R. Landrum 2015-06-11