Yellow Ball Flower

Shrubs or small trees, 3-7 m tall. Branchlets and inflorescences grayish ochraceous tomentulose. Leaves opposite, each pair slightly unequal; stipules obsolete; petiole 3-12 cm; leaf blade triangular, triangular-ovate, or rhombic-ovate, 5-20 × 4.5-20 cm, chartaceous, adaxially sparsely stellate-puberulent, abaxially tomentulose, sparsely reddish glandular-scaly, base rounded to cordate, with 2-4 maculate glands, margin entire or repand, apex acute or acuminate; basal veins 3. Male inflorescences terminal, unbranched, 6-15 cm; bracts subulate, 1.5-2 mm. Male flowers 3-9-fascicled; pedicel 2-3 mm; calyx lobes 3-5, oblong or lanceolate, 2-3 mm; stamens 80-100. Female inflorescences 3-15 cm. Female flowers: sepals 3-5, ovate-lanceolate, 2.5-3 mm, tomentulose; ovary tomentose and softly spiny; styles 3, 4-5 mm, connate at middle, plumose. Fruiting pedicel ca. 5 mm; capsule 3-locular, ca. 12 mm in diam., tomentulose and sparsely shortly softly spiny. Seeds subglobose, ca. 5 mm in diam. Fl. Apr-Jun, fr. Aug-Oct.

Hainan, Taiwan [Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand; N Australia, Pacific islands (Fiji)].

Coastal regions, thickets; below 100 m.

Rottlera tiliifolia Blume, Bijdr. 607. 1826 ["tiliaefolia"]; Mallotus playfairii Hemsley.