Actephila foetida

Description

Usually flowers and fruits as a shrub about 1-2 m tall. Leaves quite large, leaf blades about 30-36 x 12-15 cm. Petioles about 2-9 cm long, grooved or channelled on the upper surface. Lateral veins raised on the upper surface, curving and forming indistinct loops inside the blade margin. Twigs rather stout, (about 6-8 mm diam.) usually with numerous pale coloured lenticels. Flowers about 3-4 mm diam., produced on burr-like projections on the twigs. Tepals hairy outside, glabrous on the inner surface. One or more very small vestigial petals may be present. In male flowers the staminal filaments emerge from within a white, 5-lobed disk. In female flowers the white disk is apparent but is not obviously 5-lobed as in the male flowers. Ovary surrounded by a flat, white, fleshy disk. Ovary green. Stigmas bilobed.