Cryptolepis decidua

It is a shrub reaching 1.5 meters in height. Its straight, slender, stems have pale grey bark. Its leaves occur in clusters. Its hairless, linear to slightly spatula-shaped leaves are 1.9–2.5 by 0.25–0.5 centimeters. The tips of its leaves are blunt or slightly pointed. The base of the leaves terminate in a rudimentary petiole. When the leaves fall, the petioles persist and form overlapping stacks. Its solitary flowers occur at the junction of the leaves and stem, and because the leaves are clustered can occur in groups of two or more. The flowers are on pedicels that are 0.8–1.9 centimeters long. The pedicels have slender hairless bracts midway up their length. The flower buds are twisted in a spiral. Its flowers have 5 lance-shaped sepals that are 2.5 millimeters long with pointed tips. The 5 petals are fused at their base to form a 2.5 millimeter-long, bell-shaped tube. The lance-shaped, hairless lobes of the petals are 7.6 millimeters long. The flowers have a ring-like structure between the petals and its stamen called a corona. Its corona have 5 thread-like, lobes that are 3.8–5.1 millimeters long and attached half-way up the petal tubes. Its stamen have tapering anthers that arch over the stigma. The styles of the pistils are shorter than the anthers and have cone-shaped tops.

Reproductive biology. …