Simple-stemmed shrub to 1 m tall;  mature stems terete, glabrous to weakly tomentose, somewhat striate, often minutely verrucose, with scattered, tiny, pustular glands which rarely may produce setose hairs or be obscure altogether; twigs terete to subterete, striate, densely short-ferruginous-tomentose to glabrate, bearing numerous, tiny, pustular glands.  Leaves thick-coriaceous, moderately convex above and concave beneath, but lower surface easily observed, elliptic, 1.6-2.6(-4) x 1-1.6(-2) cm, base cuneate or rounded and short-decurrent, apex rounded or acute (very shortly and bluntly mucronate), margin revolute, bearing 1-2 pairs of slightly raised, pustular glands at base of lamina, glabrous above but very densely brownish to ferruginous, short-tomentose beneath obscuring the surface;  pinnately nerved with midrib impressed above and raised beneath, lateral nerves (2-4 per side) raised on both surfaces but obscure, upper surface usually wrinkled;  petiole terete, conspicuously narrowly canaliculate above, rugose, short-white-pilose, 2.5-5 mm long, usually bearing numerous, tiny, pustular glands.  Inflorescence ca. 2-5-flowered;  rachis terete, striate, 0.4-1.5 cm long, weakly short-tomentose with whitish to tan hairs, glabrate;  floral bract ovate, 1.5-2 mm long, acute to obtuse, pubescent as rachis;  pedicel subterete, striate, 5-6(-9) mm long, weakly short-pilose to glabrate;  bracteoles broadly ovate to obovate or suborbicular, 1.5-2 mm long, acute to rounded, glabrous.  Flowers with calyx 7-9 mm long, essentially glabrous without to moderately ferruginous-pilose on lobes, lobes oblong-ovate, 6-7 mm long, acute, distally short-pilose within;  corolla 10-11 mm long, rose to red when fresh, glabrous to pilose along the angles only or sometimes also between angles, lobes broadly deltoid, ca. 3 mm long, reflexed;  stamens 5.5-6 mm long;  filaments 3.5-4 mm long;  anthers 2.5-3 mm long, base very short-mucronate;  thecae ca. 2 mm long;  tubules ca. 0.8-1 mm long;  ovary glabrous to densely long-pilose but surface not obscured;  style 5-6 mm long, glabrous.  Berry ± spherical, ca. 1 cm diam., glabrous to sparsely pilose.

     Distribution (Map).  Endemic to the Venezuelan Guayana, to the Chimantá Massif (Edo. Bolívar), where it has been collected in open, shrubby vegetation and shrub islands in savannas over granitic and sandstone rock, at elevations from 1950 to 2150 m.   Flowering material has been collected in Feb, Mar, and Jun, and fruiting in Feb and Mar.  Rare and endangered.