This species is characterized by its petiolate medium-sized elliptic leaves; inflorescences that are variously axillary and terminal, and congested to laxly cymose with the flowers subsessile in small groups to separated on well developed axes; its obtuse flower buds; and its pink to red corollas with the tubes 9-12 (20) mm long and the lobes often cream or yellow. The inflorescences are often subsessile with several fasciculate peduncles or principal axes.
As circumscribed by Steyermark, who considered this species in detail (1967: 350-351), Ixora graciliflora comprises extensive variation in leaf size, inflorescence size and arrangement, and corolla size, and further study may find more than one species is included here. Many plants and the type of Ixora xantholoba have generally short, rather congested axillary inflorescences with the flowers mostly subsessile in groups of 3 and generally elliptic leaves. Other plants have subsessile to pedunculate, lax, terminal inflorescences with the flowers separated on well developed axes or pedicels and the leaves often elliptic-oblong. These plants have corollas of similar and size and form. The type of Ixora graciliflora agrees with the second group of plants, with lax inflorescences, but has larger corollas with tubes ca. 20 mm long. No corolla of intermediate size have been seen, but limited material from the Guianas was available for this study.
Ixora graciliflora is similar to Ixora ferrea of the Caribbean region, and the reports of Ixora ferrea from the Guianas are mostly misdientifications of Ixora gracilifora.