Trees, apparently evergreen, flowering at 5-10 m tall; branches compressed becoming terete, brown to gray, puberulent to glabrous, usually densely lenticellate with elliptic white raised lenticels. Petiole 3-10 mm, glabrous; leaf blade drying stiffly papery to subleathery, lanceolate, elliptic-lanceolate, or ovate-oblong, 6-20 × 2-7 cm, adaxially glabrous and rather shiny, abaxially glabrous to puberulent or tomentulose at least along veins, base acute to obtuse, apex acute to caudate-acuminate; secondary veins 8-12 pairs, sometimes with small pilosulous domatia in axils; stipules deltoid to narrowly triangular, 5-8 mm, acute to perhaps obtuse. Inflorescence glabrous to densely puberulent or tomentulose; peduncles 1.5-3 cm, usually articulate and with 4 caducous bracts 1-3 mm near middle; flowering heads 6-7 mm in diam. across calyces, ca. 12 mm in diam. across corollas; bracteoles ca. 2 mm. Calyx with ovary portion obconic, 0.5-1 mm, pilosulous to glabrescent, surrounded at base by a ring of pilose trichomes ca. 0.5 mm; limb lobed essentially to base; lobes 1-2 mm, narrowly elliptic-oblong, obtuse. Corolla outside glabrous; tube 3-3.5 mm; lobes triangular-spatulate, ca. 1 mm. Stigmas obconic, ca. 1 mm, exserted for ca. 5 mm. Fruiting head 8-10 mm in diam. Capsules obovoid to obconic, ca. 1.5 mm, pilosulous at least on apical portion. Fl. and fr. Apr-Dec.