Shrub or small tree, evergreen, dioecious, up to 8 m in height. Trunk and old branches with greyish-brown bark, slightly fissured and striated on older specimens. Young branchlets glabrous, reddish, sometimes purplish. Leaves (1-6 \u00d7 0.5-3 cm) alternate, ovate, lanceolate or elliptic, usually acute, attenuate at the base, with subentire or dentate margin, with 4-6 pairs of lateral veins, glabrous or slightly pulverulent, intense green on the upper side, lighter on the underside. Petiole short, with promptly caducous stipules. Inflorescence in sparse axillary racemes. Flowers greenish-yellowish, sessile, male and female flowers on separate plants. Calyx tubular-campanulate, usually with 5 lobes, lanceolate, which gradually recurve backwards until folding over the base of the calyx; in female flowers the sepals remain upright. Petals absent. Stamens with yellow anthers, showy, especially after the sepals fold. Fruit a drupe, ovate or globose, 4-6 mm in diameter, at first green, then red and finally black. Seeds 2-4, with a groove on the inside.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-12687","species","type-species","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n