Evergreen shrub or tree 3–6 m tall; trunk pale, stems 4–5 mm thick, whitish; current year’s growth pale brown, velvety tomentose, glabrous at length; bud-scales ovate, 4–5.5 mm long, 1.5–3 mm wide, acuminate, often persistent. Leaf-blade ovate (smallest leaves) to obovate-elliptic (larger), 3–18(–34) cm long, 1.8–7.5(–15) cm wide, acumen 0.5–0.7 mm long, 0.3–0.4 mm wide, base cordate (smallest leaves) cuneate to rounded, veins prominent below, 6–10 pairs, glabrous above and beneath; petiole terete, 0–4(–6.3) cm long, 1.5 mm wide, the base and apex distinctly swollen and 2.5–3.5 mm wide, thickly covered in a pale brown, velvety tomentum, becoming glabrous; stipules linear, rarely narrowly rhombic, 6–8 mm long, 0.2–0.5 mm wide, tomentose, ± persistent. Inflorescence with flowers borne with the leaves, axillary, single or rarely in fascicles, sessile; bracts ± 4, ± orbicular, the lowest ± 3 mm long, 4 mm wide, increasing to 6 mm long and wide, outer surface tomentose, inner glossy, glabrous, dark brown; pedicel absent. Flowers opening yellowish, fading chocolate brown, widely campanulate, 15–19 mm long, ± 28 mm across, perianth fleshy-leathery, divided within 2–5 mm of the base into 6 lobes, lobes narrowly triangular, 10–14 mm long, 4–9 mm wide, the margin folded inwards, outer surface densely stellate-hairy, with a mixture of long, lanate, colourless hairs up to 2 mm long, and smaller stellate hairs, folded margin lacking longer hairs, innner surface with minute papillae. Male flowers with androphore abruptly contracted from the base, 2–4 mm long, 3–3.5 mm across (4 mm across at the base), thickly long stellately hairy; anthers 14, uniseriate, forming a ring 2 mm long, 5.5–6 mm wide, inner surface tomentose. Female flowers without androphore; anthers at the base of the ovary; ovary subspherical, 3–4 mm long, 5–6 mm wide, densely stellate tomentose; style up to 0.5 mm long; stigmas 6, 0.5 mm long, partly reflexed, black. Fruit (probably immmature) with carpels felty green-white, 2.5 cm long, 1.3–1.8 cm wide, rostrum 0.5 cm long, stipe 0.8 mm long.