Shrubs or trees , 1.5-11(-14) m; trunks slender, to 20(-30) cm diam.; bark shallowly furrowed in larger trees. Branches spreading-ascending, slender; new shoots moderately to copiously brown-hairy apically, aging glabrous. Leaves: petiole 5-10 mm. Leaf blade oblong-obovate to oblanceolate, 15-30 cm, membranous, base narrowly cuneate, margins scarcely or not revolute, apex acute to acuminate; surfaces abaxially densely hairy, later sparsely so on veins, adaxially sparsely appressed-pubescent on veins, becoming glabrous. Inflorescences from previous year's shoots before or during new leaf emergence; peduncle nodding, (1-)1.5-2(-2.5) cm, densely hairy, hairs dark brown to red-brown; bracteoles 1-2, basal, usually ovate-triangular, rarely over 2-3 mm, hairy. Flowers maroon, fetid, 2-4(-5) cm diam.; sepals triangular-deltate, 8-12 mm, abaxially densely pilose; outer petals excurved, oblong-elliptic, 1.5-2.5 cm, abaxially puberulent on veins; inner petals elliptic, 1/3-1/2 length of outer petals, base saccate, apex recurved, surfaces abaxially glabrate, veins impressed adaxially, corrugate nectary zone distinct; pistils 3-7(-12). Berries yellow-green, 5-15 cm. Seeds brown to chestnut brown, 1.5-2.5 cm.

Usually shrubby, sometimes a tree to 10 m; young twigs hairy; lvs oblong-obovate, becoming 15-35 cm after anthesis, abruptly short-acuminate, gradually narrowed below; petiole 5-10 mm; fls from wood of the previous year, lurid purple, 3-4 cm wide, the sep 8-12 mm long, the outer pet 1.5-2.5 cm, broadly ovate, outcurved, the inner ovate, nearly erect, and nectariferous at the base; receptacle hemispheric or subglobose; peduncles hairy, (10-)15-20(-25) mm at anthesis; frs solitary or few, 6-15 נ3-4 cm, yellowish-brown, rounded at the tip; seeds flattened, 2-2.5 cm; 2n=18. Rich, damp woods; w. N.Y. and s. Ont. to s. Mich. and e. Nebr., s. to Fla. and Tex. Apr, May.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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