Perennial, profusely branched woody shrubs up to 1.8 m high or, if burnt regularly, forming very densely branched suffrutices up to 0.8 m high and 1.2 m in diameter; branches very robust and woody at base, bark pale greyish-brown, shallowly fissured; young stems less woody, green, slender, distinctly bifariously pubescent; hairs short, white, eglandular. Leaves (25-)29-30(-35) x (6-)8-10(-14) mm, opposite, very shortly petiolate; lamina narrowly ovate or oblong-ovate; base broadly cuneate; apex gradually tapered to acute with pungent, recurved apical hook; surfaces smooth, slightly shiny, glabrous or with a few eglandular trichomes along midrib (especially on abaxial surface), dark green above, yellowish-green below, somewhat thickly-textured, slightly stiff or leathery; margins entire, slightly revolute (markedly so at leaf bases); venation eucamptodromous, one main vein from base, 4-7 pairs of principal laterals, these ending before the margins, not very conspicuous; epidermal cells dense with cystoliths, imparting slightly rough texture to dried specimens; petiole (1.0-)1.4-1.6(-2.0) mm long, pale yellow to yellowish-green, glabrous or with scattered eglandular trichomes. Inflorescence an axillary, scorpioid cyme with (3-)4-6(-7) flowers maturing sequentially. Bracts 2 per flower, one longer than the other; (15-)20-22(-31) x (2.0-)3.5-3.7(-6.0) mm, lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, spinous, with a narrow blade, stiff, pale green with reddish-purple tip; midrib conspicuous, pale yellow-green; persistent after leaves and other floral parts fall; abortive inflorescences form in some lower leaf axils with only bracts properly formed giving spiny appearance to plants. Calyx of 4 dissimilar lobes, 2 outer, 2 inner; outer adaxial lobe (30-)34-38(-43) x (14-)18-20(-24) mm; outer abaxial lobe (26-)30-34(-40) x (17-)18-20(-25) mm; both outer lobes very broadly ovate or, rarely, elliptic; bases cordate; apex attenuate, ending in pungent, stiff spine (abaxial lobe sometimes ends in two apical teeth); outer surfaces very finely, shortly and densely pubescent near base, with or without short, stalked, glandular trichomes, upper parts glabrous; inner surfaces shortly pubescent or glandular-pubescent at base, upper parts glabrous; both surfaces very pale green, becoming brown or reddish-brown with age; texture soft and herbaceous initially, becoming chartaceous and stiff with age; margins entire or occasionally irregularly dentate with fine, short spines; venation extremely conspicuous, green when young, becoming red or purplish as flowers mature, (8-)10-11(-12) main veins from the base, these looping near the margins; reticulate pattern of secondary and tertiary venation clearly visible; inner calyx lobes (9.0-)12.3-12.7(-15.0) x (1.5-)2.1-2.7(-3.0) mm, linear or linear-lanceolate, apex finely pointed; surfaces very densely and finely glandular or glandular-pubescent, very pale green; texture soft, herbaceous initially becoming chartaceous with age; mid-vein conspicuous, projecting on outer surface, green initially becoming red or purple with age. Flowers (34-)39-40(-46) mm long, very conspicuous, scented nocturnally, colour ranging from almost pure white with faint pink markings to deep pink with magenta-pink markings on corolla lobes; corolla narrowly funelliform below, unequally 5-lobed above; tube narrowly cylindrical near base, gradually inflating as lobes are approached, very gently and convexly curved. Corolla obscurely bilabiate; upper lip of 4 sub-equal lobes, 2 adaxial lobes narrower and slightly shorter than two lateral lobes; adaxial lobes (19-)22-24(-27) x (8-)16-17(-18), lateral lobes (18-)21-25(-29) x (18-)20-23(-25) mm; all upper lobes elliptic or somewhat obovate to very broadly elliptic or obovate; apex acute, often sharply so; lower lip of 1 lobe, (18) 21-25(-29) x (18-)21-23(-25) mm, very broadly elliptic or broadly obovate; apex rounded to slightly retuse. Androecium comprising 2 fertile stamens and 3 staminodes. Stamens (34-)35-36(-40) mm long, epipetalous, exserted when mature; anthers (4.0-)4.6-5.3(-5.5) mm long, bright purple before dehiscence, black or grey after opening; dehiscence introrse, longitudinal; lobes linear, muticous, parallel; filaments white, glabrous except near base where glandular-pubescent, twisted and crossed over near base. Staminodes (5.0) 6.6-8.3(-10.0) mm long, epipetalous, adnate to corolla at same level as stamens; 2 staminodes with anther rudiments; filaments twisted but not crossed over near base, glabrous except at base where sparsely glandular-pubescent. Ovary superior, ovoid, 2-locular, glabrous; ovules 4; disc nectariferous, deeply cupular, surrounding ovary for three quarters of its length; style terete, white, glabrous, curved in young buds, straight when mature; stigma shortly bilobed. Fruit a capsule, (19-)20-22(-25) x (8.0-)8.3-9.7(-11.0) mm, estipitate, spindle-shaped to obtrulloid, flattened, green when young, black when mature, dehiscing explosively; surfaces glabrous, apex tapered but without an apical beak; placental bases inelastic. Seeds 4, discoid, (6.0-)6.9-7.3(-7.5) x (5.0-)5.3-5.7(-6.0) mm, discoid, borne on stiff retinacula; surfaces greyish-black, covered in hygroscopic hairs; hygroscopic hairs fused to form a continuous layer and kinked to form ridges running the width of the seeds.
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