Erect shrubs (0.5–) 1.0–2.0 (–2.5) m high, single-stemmed at base and reseeding after fire. Young stems puberulous with short, straight, golden hairs. Leaves oblong to obovate or obtriangular, (15–) 20–40 (–50) mm long, 5–15 (–30) mm wide, glabrous; base narrowed into a short stem-clasping petiole; intrapetiolar hair tufts absent; margins entire, with 1–4 pairs of (sometimes indistinct) teeth near the apex, which is acute or shortly apiculate and ± straight or deflexed. Flowers single, terminal on short lateral stems, sessile. Bracts herbaceous; primary bract ovate to elliptic, acute or shortly acuminate, 7–10 mm long, glabrous; secondary bracts absent or few, grading into leaves. Sepals (5–) 10–15 mm long, glabrous; outer sepals lanceolate to ovate, acute; inner sepals broadly elliptical to obovate, acute or attenuate. Petals 5, yellow, obovate, 15–20 mm long, emarginate. Stamens 20 (–25), in 5 bundles alternating with the carpels, each bundle with 4 or 5 stamens; filaments 1–1.2 mm long, fused except the inner one which is ± free; anthers narrowly oblong to rectangular, 1.5–2.0 (–3.0) mm long, dehiscing by introrse longitudinal slits; staminodes absent. Carpels 5; ovaries ovoid, glabrous; styles protruding outward and ascending, 3–5 mm long. Ovules 2 per carpel. Seeds orange-brown, shiny, almost globular, c. 3 mm long, c. 2.5 mm wide; aril ± fleshy, yellow-orange, covering all or most of the seed.
Occurs in a variety of habitats, including jarrah and marri woodlands, karri forests, Banksia and mixed shrublands, and on coastal foredunes, in brown or grey sand, loam or clay.
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