Shrub or small tree, 2.5–10 m. tall; young branches slender, glabrous, with pale grey bark which eventually flakes off to reveal dark chocolate-brown underlayer.. Leaves often drying blue-black, glabrous, narrowly elliptic to elliptic or sometimes broadly elliptic, 5–12 cm. long, 1.7–5 cm. wide, distinctly acuminate at apex, acute to cuneate at base, subcoriaceous to coriaceous, somewhat shiny above; domatia present, usually small, glabrous to pubescent pits, scarcely raised above; petioles (0.4–)0.5–1 cm. long; stipules triangular, usually rather small, 1–2.5 mm. long, caducous (or sometimes up to 5 mm. long, including acumen, on coppice shoots).. Flowers solitary; peduncle very abbreviated; pedicels 1–4 mm. long; bracteoles resembling reduced stipules, sometimes with a subulate lobe up to 5 mm. long.. Calyx glabrous; tube 5–8 mm. long; limb-tube 6–10 mm. long, usually with 5 distinct ribs (decurrent lobe bases), never splitting; lobes filiform or occasionally narrowly linear, 4–15 mm. long, somewhat widened at base but clearly separated by sinuses.. Corolla white or cream with red to purple spots at the throat, glabrous outside; tube narrowly cylindrical at base then campanulate above, (3–)4.5–7 cm. long, 2.3–4.5 cm. wide at top, the cylindrical portion up to 1/4 the total length; lobes overlapping to right in bud, ovate 2–3 cm. long, 1–2.2 cm. wide, rounded to acute or subacuminate.. Anthers 1/3-exserted.. Style up to ± 7.5 cm. long; stigmatic knob exserted, 1.7–2 cm. long, 0.2–0.3 cm. wide.. Fruit green with pale green spots, ellipsoid, broadly ellipsoid or sometimes almost globose, 4–8 cm. long, 3.5–4.8 cm. wide, with a pentagonal scar at apex.. Seeds brownish, 6–8 mm. long, ± 4 mm. wide, ± 2 mm. thick.
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