Trees, deciduous, 7-30(-40) m tall; trunk often buttressed and fluted at base, with outer bark reddish-brown, inner bark dark red to brown; branches stout, with well-developed petiole scars. Petiole 2-12 cm, densely tomentose to pilosulous; leaf blade drying thinly leathery, brown adaxially, and pale to yellowish green abaxially, broadly ovate (5 -)8-16(-25) × (5-)8-16(-20) cm, adaxially sparsely hirtellous to puberulent or glabrescent, abaxially densely puberulent, tomentose, pilosulous, or glabrescent and with epidermis bullate inside areoles of quaternary veins, base cordate, apex acute to acuminate; secondary veins 6-10 pairs, usually divaricately branched half way along their length, sometimes with pilosulous domatia; stipules spatulate, ovate or oblong-oblanceolate, 10-12 × 5-12 mm, usually strongly keeled, densely strigillose to pilosulous, broadly rounded.

Inflorescence densely tomentose to pilosulous; peduncle 2-6(-10) cm, at articulation with two bracts 1-2 mm, broadly rounded; flowering heads 5-8 mm in diam. Across calyces, ca. 20 mm in diam. Across corollas; bracteoles linear to clavate, ca. 2 mm. Calyx densely strigillose; ovary portion 1-2 mm, densely sericeous, surrounded at base by a dense ring of trichomes 1-2 mm; limb deeply lobed, lobes narrowly triangular to linear, 1.3-1.8 mm, at apex clavate. Corolla outside densely strigillose; tube 5-6 mm; lobes elliptic-oblong, 1-2 mm, obtuse to round. Stigma ovoid, ca. 0.2 mm, exserted for 5-7 mm.

Fruiting heads 10-15 mm in diam. Capsules 4-5 mm, densely strigillose or glabrescent near base; seeds 2-3.5 × 0.5-1 mm. Fl. spring and summer.