Description: Often taking shrub-like form, Desmopsis grows with one, two or three main trunks, each measuring about 3 cm in diameter. Irregular, these stems give rise to a thin set of angular branches, sparsely covered with large (15 cm by 6 cm), broad, smooth leaves. Simple, alternate, and elliptical in shape, the blades sport short (1 cm) petioles and moderate drip-tips. Leaf veins are deeply impressed into the blade's upper surface. New foliage is produced in September, with approximately 40% of the treelet's cover renewed at this time.
Flower buds - really just green, miniature versions of
the mature blossoms - become visible in the same month, emerging
from leaf axils and along the leafless portions of the branches
from old leaf scars. Each adult flower is composed of a vertically
hanging collection of yellow, spike-like petals capped by a red,
three-part calyx and pedestal. Measuring 5 cm in length, the six
petals (each strongly curled about a longitudinal axis) are splayed
outwards at the bottom of the blossom. Deep inside this complex
corolla lie six short stamens that are attached to the top of
a fat, central pistil. Blossoms emit a faint, banana-like odor.
Flowering occurs from September through October with a secondary
event often observed in January and February. Fruits, resembling
spiked balls (8 cm), begin to grow immediately, reaching maturity
after about two months. Initially, they appear as a cluster of
rice-sized grains attached to the end of the flower ovary. Later,
these grains spread apart and enlarge into approximately twelve,
yellow, club-shaped appendages that radiate outward from the swollen,
red hub that serves as their common place of attachment. Each
fleshy club contains about five, longitudinally stacked brown
seeds. Disk shaped, the seeds (6 mm) are circumscribed by prominent,
lateral grooves. Fruits mature in December and, to a lesser extent,
in May.
