Shrub or small tree, 3-6 m tall; trunk not branched, smooth. Branches tetragonal, angles not sharp. Leaves 10-20 x 5-9 cm, elliptic, shining green, glabrous, membranous, 5-6 pairs of distinct lateral nerves, margin entire, apex obtuse or acute-acuminate, base attenuate ending in 1-2 cm long petiole, petiole sinuate; stipules 6-9 x 4-7 mm, rounded, oblong or somewhat semi-circular, glabrous, persistent, often 2-lobed. Inflorscence axillary, usually in every alternate pair of leaves, peduncle c. 1 cm long. Head oblong, 1.5-2.5 x 1-1.5 cm, green, enlarged in fruit, lower flowers of the head open first. Calyx-tube cupular, c. 2 mm in diameter, lobes truncate or obscure. Corolla white, tube c. 12 mm long, cylindrical, glabrous, lobes oblong, 5-6 mm long, recurved, throat hairy, pubescent. Stamens yellowish, somewhat exserted. Heads of fruit ovoid, glossy, 4-6 x 3-4 cm, whitish or pale-yellow, pyrenes compressed on one side, winged on edges, c. 8 x 5 mm, with basifixed white hairs specially on edges and wing.