Tooth Scrubber (Engl.), Alagasi (Tag., Bis.)

Erect shrub to small tree. Height: 2-4 meters Leaves: Arrange spirally, papery, oblong or ovavate, felty and harsh to touch, gray or chalky white beneath and green on the other side, pointed at the tip, abruptly and broadly rounded, and 3-nerved at the base (1,2) Flowers: Inflorescence a pseudo-axilary, capitate, either single or few-clustered; unisexual, male flowers are white, upon short pedicels with 5-parted perianth, 5 stamens and rudimentary pistil, female flowers with cup-shaped Fruiting heads are dark green, nearly spherical, with compressed achenes (1,2) Fruits: Achene with fleshy pericarp and thinly crustaceous, white endocarp (1,2)