This species is characterized by its medium-sized to robust, petiolate, generally elliptic-oblong leaves, subsessile to shortly pedunculate corymbiform inflorescences with three well developed axes and the flowers subsessile in subcapitate groups or short cymes of 3-5, lobed calyx limbs, and slender red to orange corollas with tubes 11-17 mm long. In general these plants are robust and stout. The leaves are subcoriaceous and obtuse to acute at the bases, and characteristically dry with a brown color. The leaves frequently are weakly bullate, or have the secondary veins weakly impressed on the upper surface. The inflorescences axes, bracts, and hypanthia are pilosulous, and the flowers are subtended by one or a few lanceolate bracts more than half as long as the hypanthium.

Ixora ulei is circumscribed here following Steyermark (1967), and much more narrowly than by various recent authors. Many of the plants previously included in Ixora ulei are here separated into Ixora francavillana and Ixora rufa.

Ixora ulei is similar to Ixora schomburgkiana, and these were compared in detail by Steyermark (1967); also both of these species are similar to Ixora francavillana and Ixora panurensis, which were not treated in detail by Steyermark. Ixora schomburgkii differs in its puberulous to pilosulous inflorescence axes and hypanthia, shorter bracts with those subtending the flowers less than half as long as the hypanthium, and calyx limbs lobed for half or less of their length, as well as its usually longer corollas with tubes 15-30 mm long. Ixora schomburgkii characteristically also has elliptic to ovate leaves with the secondary veins flat and hardly evident on the upper surface, but this form is found in some plants of Ixora schomburgkii also. Ixora francavillana has inflorescence and calyx forms similar to those of Ixora schomburgkiana, and leaves similar in form and corollas similar in size to Ixora ulei. Ixora paurensis also has inflorescence, calyx, and leaf forms similar to Ixora schomburgkiana, though generally shorter corollas, and overall is quite similar to these others. Also similar is Ixora martinsii of northeastern Brazil, with glabrescent inflorescence axes, small bracts, subtruncate calyx limbs, and shorter corollas with tubes ca. 5 mm long.