Epiphytic shrub;  stem subterete, bluntly and broadly ribbed, glabrous;  twigs subterete, complanate, bluntly angled, striate, glabrous, with scattered ovate-lanceolate, long-acuminate bracts to 10 mm long along twig proximal to first leaves.  Leaves coriaceous, subsessile, clasping or amplexicaul, elliptic to oblong-elliptic, (7-)9-12 x 3-4.5 cm, base rounded, cordate, auriculate, apex obtuse or bluntly acute, margin entire and flat, glabrous but densely and deciduously glandular-fimbriate on both surfaces;  weakly 5(-7)-plinerved or pinnately nerved with 2-3 lateral nerves per side, midrib impressed above and conspicuously raised beneath, lateral nerves and reticulate veinlets slightly raised on both surfaces;  petiole subterete, strongly flattened above, rugose, to 2 mm long, glabrous.  Inflorescence axillary, solitary, racemose, 12-21-flowered;  rachis subterete, angled, striate, bracteate, overall 4.5-11 cm long but the proximal 3.5 cm usually naked and lacking fertile nodes, glandular-fimbriate throughout;  floral bract apparently persistent, narrowly ovate, long-acuminate, 3-5 mm long, glabrous, the margin weakly glandular-fimbriate;  pedicel subterete, angled, striate, 16-22 mm long (post anthesis), glandular-fimbriate;  bracteoles located near the middle, shaped like the floral bract but 2.5-3 mm long.  Flowers (all post anthesis) with calyx continuous, obconical, ca. 7 mm long, glabrous, glandular-fimbriate;  hypanthium strongly 5-winged, ca. 5 mm long;  limb erect, ca. 2 mm long;  lobes ovate, apiculate, ca. 1.5 mm long; sinuses acute;  corolla, stamens, and berry not seen.

    Distribution.  Endemic to the Atlantic slopes of Costa Rica and only known from the type.