Stiff, erect, large shrub or small, much branched tree, 3 – 6 m tall, with young branchlets pink or lilac and silky hairy. Leaves narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate, (3-) 4 – 6 (-7) x 5 – 8 mm, veins prominent on both sides, glabrous, oil glands scattered, cuneate at base, usually shortly acuminate at apex. Spikes 6 – 10 x 4 – 6 cm, lax. Flowers crimson, sometimes purplish-red or lilac. Calyx tube hairy, becoming glabrous. Petals greenish-red or dull red, c. 6 mm long. Staminal filaments 2.4 – 2.6 cm long, bright crimson, with dark purplish-red anthers. Fruits depressed globose, woody, 6 – 7 mm across.