Cyrtandra cyaneoides, a member of the Gesneriaceae (African violet) family, is an erect or ascending, fleshy, usually unbranched shrub, about 3.3 to 19.7 ft (1 to 6 meters) tall. The opposite, symmetrical, egg-shaped leaves are fleshy and leathery, 40 to 55 cm (16 to 22 in) long and 22 to 35 cm (9 to 14 in) wide. The upper surface of the toothed leaves is wrinkled with impressed veins and sparsely covered with long hairs. The lower surface has raised veins and is sparsely covered with hairs. The leaf stalks are 4.5 to 14.0 cm (1.8 to 5.5 in) long and winged. The white flowers, covered with shaggy brown hairs, arise from the leaf axils in small dense clusters. The corolla tube (fused petals) is narrowly funnelform, curved near the middle, about 25 mm (1 in) long, and hairless. The corolla lobes are elliptic and about 7 mm (0.3 inch) long. The bilaterally symmetrical calyx is spindle-shaped in bud and about 26 to 36 mm (1 to 1.4 in) in length when the flower is fully open, but falls off after the flower matures. The fruit is an egg-shaped berry, which is covered with shaggy hairs, at least when young.