Shrubs 5-8 m tall, the branchlets 4-angled, ashen gray when dry, the nodes conspicuous, swollen, the internodes to 2 cm long. Leaves widely oblong or rotund, 13-22 cm long, 5.0-10.5 cm wide, deltoid or rotund toward the apex, the acumen absent or when present to 0.5 cm long, attenuate acute at the base, the costa prominulous above, prominent beneath, to 1.3 mm wide proximally, the lateral veins 10-12, arcuate, somewhat prominulous, the margin revolute, cori-aceous, concolorous, shiny, glabrous; petioles thick, 1.5-3.0 cm long, to 0.25 cm wide; stipules free, compressed rotund, to 1.5 cm long, thick, coriaceous, gla-brous, with an elevated rectangular portion extending beyond the body, rounded at the apex, and bearing 6-12 oblong glandular fimbriae to 2.5 mm long. Inflo-rescences terminal, solitary, the flowers congested into a rotund mass, to 3 cm in diam., sessile or the peduncle to 1.3 cm long, to 0.45 cm wide; external bracts ovate oblong, ca. 1.5 cm long, acute, glabrous, stiffly carnose, dark brown, the interior bracts similar but narrowly lanceolate. Flowers with the hypanthium short, the calycine cup short, the margin with 5 irregular, scariose, erose, trian-gular teeth, 0.5-2.5 mm long; corolla white, the tube cylindrical, ca. 1 cm long, thickly petaloid, glabrous outside, glabrous within except for the throat, the hairs dense, the lobes 5, narrowly oblong, ca. 8 mm long, acute or obtuse, cucullate; stamens 5, the anthers oblong, 1.8 mm long, the filaments short; style linear, 15 mm long, the stigmas 2, 1 mm long. Fruits sessile, oblong, to 1.5 cm long, sub-truncate or rotund, orange, black when dry, smooth, glabrous, often marcescent.
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A small tree. The leaves are opposite and thick. They are rounded at the tip and shiny on both surfaces. The flowers are white with short tubes. They are in dense heads at the ends of the branches. The fruit are large berries. They turn yellow when ripe.
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