Shrubs or trees, erect, 5–8 m. Stems straight, tawny puberulent-tomentose. Leaves deciduous; petiole 5–15 mm; blade elliptic-oblong to ovate-oblong or obovate-oblong, 4–10 cm, subcoriaceous, base rounded to obtuse, margins entire or obscurely serrulate to crenulate, apex acute to rounded or emarginate, abaxial surface tawny-tomentose, adaxial surface villous-strigose, glabrescent; pinnately veined, secondary veins 6–12 pairs, relatively straight, basal pair prominent. Inflorescences corymblike thyrses, 20–50(–70)-flowered; peduncles 8–15 mm; fruiting pedicels 4–9 mm. Capsules 7–9 mm.

Flowering Feb–Mar, possibly year-round. Rockland hammocks; 0–10 m; Fla.; West Indies (Cuba, Hispaniola).

Variety floridana is known in the flora area only from Miami-Dade County.