This species is characterized by its medium-sized, relatively very narrow leaves (for Manettia), its 4 calyx lobes 2-2.2 mm long, its short several-flowered cymes, and its pubescent purple corollas with tubes 6-7 mm long and the lobes nearly as long as the tube. This species is not well known, and is probably a relatively narrow-leaved form of a species known under another name, most likely Manettia tarapotensis, Manettia leucantha, or Manettia albert-smithii.