Shrub or small tree, to 3.5 (7) m tall; pubescence brown, stellate, dense except on upper leaf surfaces. Leaves alternate; petioles less than 1 cm long; blades narrowly oblong-elliptic, acuminate, attenuate at base and decurrent on petiole, 8-21 cm long, 1.5-6 cm wide. Inflorescences pseudoterminal, congested, the branches terminating in cymes of many flowers; flowers 5-parted, 10-15 mm wide, densely stellate-tomentose; calyx lobed to about middle, the lobes acute, enlarging and persisting in fruit; corolla white, lobed more than midway or to near base, ca 8 mm long, +/- glabrous inside; stamens less than 5 mm long; filaments stout, fused at base to corolla; anthers oblong, blunt, with 2 apical pores and longitudinal slits; ovary at first conspicuously pubescent; style stellate-tomentose, emerging from bud well above anthers, ca 5 mm long. Berries globose, ca 1 cm diam, sparsely puberulent; seeds numerous, ovoid, flattened, ca 1.5 mm long. Croat 12839. Uncommon, occurring in disturbed areas. Flowering mostly throughout the rainy season, with the fruits developing rather soon and persisting into the dry season. Easily confused with S. umbellatum, which tends to have slightly wider leaf blades (to 8 cm) and a more deeply lobed calyx (one-half to three-fourths of the way to base).