Cauliflorous tree 5–15 m tall; stems probably as C. stelechantha. Leaf-blade oblong-elliptic, 14–52≈7.5–27 cm, acumen ± 1.5 cm, base obtuse, abruptly and shortly concave-cuneate, lateral nerves 4–5 on each side of the midrib; petiole 0.9–27 cm long, 2–4 mm wide, basal pulvinus 3–8 mm wide, glabrous. Inflorescence cauliflorous, in old leaf axils of stems 1–2 cm diameter, forming 1–4-flowered woody burrs up to 1.5 cm diameter; bracts single, caducous, bilobed, concave, ± 3 mm long and wide; stalks 3 mm long (0–2 mm long in female flowers), articulated 0–0.5 mm from the base, ovoid lateral bud immediately below the articulation, indumentum dense, stellate, hairs 5–7-armed. Male flowers red, speckled green, 14 mm across, perianth flat, divided to within ± 3 mm of the base into 5–6 lobes, lobes ovate-triangular, lobes 4–5 mm long, 4 mm wide, apex slightly acuminate, margin involute in distal half, membranous, ± 0.3 mm wide, straight, concolorous, inner surface thickly covered in papillae, lacking hairs, outer surface as flower stalk; androphore cylindrical, ± 2.5 mm long, 1.3 mm wide, densely stellate-hairy, anthers uniseriate, ± 10 mm long, 3–3.5 mm wide, glabrous. Female flowers as the male but ± 18 mm across (to 30 mm in Mhoro 320, when pressed), widely campanulate, perianth lobes ± 9 mm long, 7 mm wide, ovary ovoid-conical, 4 mm diameter, shortly stellate-hairy, stigmas white, 5, 6 mm across, each obovate, ± 3 mm wide, reflexed, papillate. Fruits unknown. Fig. 4, p. 32.