Erect shrub rarely taller than 1 m high, with few branches, ‘leaning’ on other shrubs but not scandent; new shoots red-brown, older shoots warty with lenticels; hairs if present as for the genus, rigid. Leaves whorled, sessile, articulate with stem, stem-clasping almost funneled around the stem, mostly in the upper branches, thick, canaliculate, 10–35 (–40) long, c. 1 mm wide, almost needle-like, apex mucronate. Inflorescences terminal, corymbose with up to 10 flowers, held prominently 10–20 mm past the last leaves; rachis to 20 mm long, angular, purple; pedicels and peduncles ridged, purple, both c. 10–12 mm long; bracts and bracteoles sepaline, insignificant. Sepals narrow-triangular, fairly equal, 2–3 mm long, c. 1 mm wide, green at the base and then purple, margins sinuate, minutely ciliate with non rigid hairs, inner surface hairy. Petals obovate or almost rectangular, 8–12 mm long, margins towards the apex sinuate and incurving, apex just cuspidate; almost white on the outer surface with purple-blue margins; inner surface deep purple-blue. Stamens aligned like a hand facing petal break; filaments 3–5 mm long, straw-coloured tinged with deep blue; anthers cohering with apices recurving at anthesis pulling the slits open to act like pores; anthers gold, oblong–sagittate with a minimal 1 mm long basal sinus, longer than filaments, 6–8 mm long, dehiscing gold pollen through apical slits. Pistil not stipitate, ± hairy and if so the hairs extending up the style; bilocular, green, cylindrical; style elongated with minimal stigmatic development, curving towards stamens.Fruit a chartaceous capsule, 10–12 mm long, narrowing at base, eventually brown and septicidally dehiscent; seeds reniform, smooth, glossy, white aril present.
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