Cyrtandra giffardii, a member of the Gesneriaceae (African violet) family, is a shrubby tree usually 3 to 6 m (10 to 20 ft) tall. The opposite, stalked, papery-textured, toothed leaves are usually 6 to 12 cm (2.4 to 4.7 in) long and 2.5 to 4.6 cm (1 to 1.8 in) wide and have a few tiny, coarse hairs on the upper surface. Clusters of 3 to 5 flowers have a moderate amount of short brown hairs throughout the cluster, a main stalk 2.5 to 3.5 cm (1 to 1.4 in) long, two linear bracts about 6 to 7 mm (0.25 in) long, and individual flower stalks 1.5 to 3 cm (0.6 to 1.2 in) long. The calyx, 3 to 9 mm (0.1 to 0.4 in) long, has an outer covering of short, soft brown hairs and is divided into five narrowly triangular lobes. The corolla consists of five fused white petals about 12 mm (0.5 in) long, with lobes about 2 to 3 mm (0.08 to 0.1 in) long. Berries are white and about 1 cm (0.4 in) long.