SHRUB orTREELET to 3 m. tall with dense, spreading crown 

 and single trunk to 6 cm. in diameter. BARK on trunk rugose, 

 fissured transversely and longitudinally into rectangular seg- 

 ments, whitish grey to dark brown, 7-10 mm. thick; inner bark 

 reddish brown; wood pale reddish tan. BRANCHES spreading, 

 diffuse, terete, dark to light grey. BRANCHLETS distichous, 

 divaricating at wide acute to right angles, straight or somewhat 

 curved toward apex, thick, rigid, strongly flattened toward apex, 

 3-4 mm. wide, 2 mm. thick, initially light green, turning dark grey 

 and drying blackish, smooth or somewhat longitudinally 

 wrinkled, the lenticels sparse, punctate to briefly elongate, whit- 

 ish. INl ERNODES 5 20 mm. long on long shoots, highly con- 

 tracted and ca. 1 mm. long on short shoots. RAMENTA 

 congested at base of longer shoots 5-25 mm. along stem or 

 covering short shoots, black. STIPULES persistent, appressed, 

 diverging to ca. 45° with age, broadly triangular-ovate, 2.0-3.5 

 mm. long, coriaceous, light green, turning black with age, dis- 

 tinctly striate when young with 3 5 nerves per side, apically 

 obtuse to truncate, 3-setulose, the setae 0.6- 1 .0 mm. long, very 

 fragile and early disappearing, the keels prominulous, subulate, 

 the margin entire. LEAVES deciduous, 2-3 produced at tips of 

 branchlets. distichous, very short petiolate, the lamina stiff, held 

 erect, plane or nearly so, elliptic to obovate, sometimes orbicular, 

 apically rounded, retuse or emarginate, basally obtuse or 

 rounded, 30-60 mm. long, 20 45 mm. wide, coriaceous, medium 

 to dark green adaxially, light yellowish green abaxially, drying 

 ferrugineous, shiny to rather dull adaxially, dull abaxially, eli- 

 neate and without a distinct central panel, the midrib slightly 

 raised, acute in cross section, yellowish adaxially, drying ferru- 

 gineous abaxially, the lateral nerves 7-11, straight, diverging 

 40° 75° from midrib, prominulous to obscure adaxially, abax- 

 ially distinct, darker green than lamina, the veinlets abaxially 

 distinct, finely reticulate. PETIOLE short, thick, 1.0-2.5 mm. 

 long, 1.5-2.0 mm. in diameter, subterete, dark brown, drying 

 black. FLOWERS in axillary fascicles on current season's shoots, 

 often congested near apex of short shoots, with 16 flowers per 

 node; flower color unknown. BR ACTEOLES 3 per flower, sub- 



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