Besleria patrisii
Description
Terrestrial herb, subshrub, or shrub, 0.7-2 m tall. Stem sappy, woody at base, erect, sparsely strigose, hirsute, or sericeous at apex, glabrescent below. Leaves equal to subequal in a pair; petiole 0.7-7 cm long, sparsely strigillose, hirsute, sericeous; blade papyraceous or chartaceous when dry, ovate to oblong-elliptic, 5-29 x 1.5-11 cm, margin serrate or repand-serrate, apex acuminate, base cuneate, obtuse to decurrent, above sparsely strigose to sparsely hirsute or pilose, below strigose to hirsute or rarely sericeous along midrib and veins. Flowers solitary, or in umbellate or subcymose 2-8-flowered inflorescences; peduncle 1-4.5(-6) cm long, hirsute to strigillose; pedicel 0.5-3 cm long, sparsely strigillose to sparsely hirsute. Calyx campanulate, yellow to pale green, lobes connate for 1/3 to 1/2 their length, tube 0.5-0.6 cm long, free portion of lobes erect, subequal, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 0.9-1.5 x 0.2-0.5 cm, margin entire, apex subulate-acuminate, outside glabrous to weakly sericeous or sparsely strigose, inside glabrous; corolla erect in calyx, bright orange to red, 1.5-2.5 cm long, tube cylindric, 1.5-2.2 cm long, base not spurred or gibbous, 0.3-0.5 cm wide, middle slightly ventricose, throat slightly constricted, 0.4-0.8 cm wide, outside glabrous, inside with a few hairs to a ring of hairs near attachment of filaments, and a ring of glandular hairs near mouth, limb 0.6-0.9 cm wide, lobes subequal, spreading, broadly ovate to orbicular, 0.2-0.3 x 0.2-0.3 cm, margin entire to obscurely sinuate; stamens included, adnate to below middle of corolla tubeto 0.4 cm; ovary ovoid, 0.3-0.4 x 0.25-0.3 cm, glabrous, style ca. 0.8 cm long, glabrous, stigma stomatomorphic. Mature berry red, globose, 0.9-1.2 x 1-1.2 cm.