Erect undershrub, up to 70 cm high. Branches terete, 5-7 mm ø, pubescent. Leaves chartaceous to coriaceous, 22.5-32 by 6.5-9 cm; apex acuminate; base obtuse; glabrous above, sparsely puberulous beneath; basal nerves 2 pairs, the inner one branching from the midrib c. 4 mm above the base and extending upward to about halfway, the outer one much weaker and shorter and close to the margin; lateral nerves c. 10 pairs; veins transversal or reticulate; nerves and veins elevated and prominent beneath, less so above; petiole short, c. 0.5 cm, puberulous. Inflorescences at the base of the stem, simple, spiciform, 5.5 cm long, puberulous; bracts elliptic, 4-8 mm long, sometimes 2-lobed, puberulous on both surfaces. Pedicel and ovary c. 12.5 mm long, puberulous. Perianth dark purplish red, campanulate, c. 25 mm long, c. 30 mm ø, with several longitudinal veins distinct outside, obscure inside, puberulous, glabrescent outside, glandular hairy inside, especially at the lower ⅓; tube cupular, the lower half contracted and cylindric (c. 6 mm long); lobes semi-orbicular, c. 10 by 15 mm, subrotund or slightly apiculate at the apex. Stamens in 2 whorls: upper row 10-12, lower 12-15; filaments glabrous, 1-2 mm; anthers 1-1.7 mm long. Style column c. 1 mm long; lobes c. 12, erect, c. 2 mm long. Capsules (very young) slender, 4-angular, twisted, c. 4 cm long, sparsely puberulous.
Home