Erect shrub, up to 2 m high. Branches terete, c. 1 cm ø, villous. Leaves coriaceous, obovate, elliptic, ovate-oblong, or lanceolate, (15-) 20-30 (-45) by 9-10 (-25) cm; apex acute, short-acuminate, sometimes cuspidate; base obtuse, sometimes subcordate, rarely cuneate; villous, glabrescent or almost glabrous above, hispid-pubescent beneath; basal nerves 2 or 3 pairs, the inner one obliquely extending upward to c. half the blade, the outer one weaker and shorter, running along the margin; lateral nerves 10-12 pairs; all nerves prominent below, slightly elevated above; veins ± parallel or reticulate, elevated below, distinct above; petiole 0.5-1.5 cm, villous. Inflorescences usually at the lower part of the stem in the axils of (fallen) leaves, simple or sparsely branched, sometimes branched near the base and seemingly fascicled, spiciform or racemiform, 1-7 cm long, villous; bracts lanceolate or elliptic, 1-3 cm long, villous on both surfaces. Pedicel and ovary up to 4 cm long, villous. Perianth deep claret-coloured and purple mottled, funnel-shaped, up to c. 12.5 cm long and as broad at the mouth (largest flower in this genus), with distinct and reticulate veins; pubescent without especially on the venation, puberulous inside, usually glabrescent; tube about half the length of the perianth; lobes triangular or suborbicular, 5-6 by 6-7 cm, acute or rounded at the apex. Stamens in 2 whorls: upper row c. 15 (-18), lower c. 15 (-24); filaments glabrous, very short; anthers oblong, c. 1.5-2 mm long. Style column short; lobes 8-19, c. 2.5 mm. Capsules slender, 10-15 cm long, straight or twisted, 4-angular, pubescent. Seeds ellipsoid, 3-4 mm long, trigonous, acute at both ends, rugose-tubercled.
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