Psychotria malaspinae is a small tree or shrub in the Rubiaceae (coffee) family, trunks 4 to 5 cm (1.6 to 2 in) thick with terete reddish-brown branches. Leaves are chartaceous, dark glossy above, slightly paler and duller beneath, elliptic-oblong to obovate-oblanceolate, 6 to 10 cm (2.4 to 3.9 in) long and 2 to 4 cm (0.8 to 1.6 in) wide, on a 5 to 15 mm (0.2 to 0.6 in) long petiole. Lateral nerves in 8 pairs. Sessile flowers (1 to 3) in cymes with bracts at the base of the glabrous peduncle. The 2 mm-(0.08 in-) long calyx is 4 to 5-toothed, turbinate, and pubescent with simple hairs. The corolla is white or yellowish-greenish, shortly tubular, glabrous externally and with or without hairs in the throat, 4 to 5 lobes about 1 mm (0.04 in) long. Anthers are on short filaments, finely pubescent, streaked with purplish-brown. Style with clavate lobes 1.5 mm (0.06 in) long. Fruit a drupe, red, 7 to 8 mm (0.27 to 0.3 in) long, oblong-ovoid, smooth, fleshy, with 2 plano-convex hard pyrenes 6 by 4 mm (0.2 to 0.1 in), rugose, obscurely keeled.