Terrestrial or epiphytic shrub, braches scandent or lianoid to 1 m long;  stem terete, striate, glabrous;  twigs subterete, complanate, minutely striate, glabrous.  Leaves chartaceous, elliptic-oblong to elliptic-lanceolate, 9-26 x 4.5-14 cm, base cuneate to broadly obtuse, often narrowly revolute, apex long-acuminate to subabruptly short-acuminate, the apex itself 1.5-3.5 cm long, acute, margin entire but thinner than lamina proper, glabrous but glandular-fimbriate beneath, lamina also moderately papillose due probably to immersed hydathodes;  pinnately nerved with 6-7 lateral nerves per side, midrib and lateral nerves impressed above and raised beneath, reticulate veinlets slilghtly immersed, plane, or slightly raised but usually inconspicuous above;  petiole thick, 2.3-7 mm long.  Inflorescence racemose, 1-4-flowered;  rachis terete, ca. 7-8 mm long, glabrous;  floral bract broadly ovate, acuminate, ca. 1.5-2.5 mm long;  pedicel subterete, rigid, 15-22 mm long and 2 mm diam., glabrous, with scattered glandular fimbriae along length and a dense ring of glandular fimbriae at articulation with calyx, deep coral-red;  bracteoles basal or located just below middle of pedicel, similar to floral bract.  Flowers with calyx ca. 7-9 mm long, glabrous or puberulent, also with scattered glandular fimbriae;  hypanthium subcylindric, bluntly 5-winged or deeply grooved, clearly distinct from the limb, narrowed towards the base, ca. 5-5.5 mm long, deep orangish- to coral-red;  limb spreading, ca. 2.5-4 mm long, glabrous;  lobes broadly ovate, apiculate, ca. 1.5-2 mm long;  sinuses acute to broadly rounded or irregularly split and then acute;  corolla carnose, tubular, slightly pentagonal, inflated near base, 16-21 mm long and 6-11 mm diam., glabrous but with scattered glandular fimbriae (sometimes more densely glandular-fimbriate in distal half), reddish-orange, the lobes spreading, reflexed, oblong-ovate, acute, ca. 2-3 mm long, yellowish-green;  stamen 7-9 mm long;  filaments ca. 1.8-2.5 mm long, short-pilose, the connectives alternately thickened or spurred;  anthers ca. 7-8.5 mm long;  thecae strongly to weakly granular, ca. 4-5 mm long, the base strongly incurved;  tubules geniculate, distinct, 2.5-4 mm long, dehiscing by clefts ca. 1.5-1.8 mm long;  style exserted or inserted, thin, to ca. 19 mm long, glabrous.  Berry not seen.

    Distribution.  Endemic to Ecuador;  premontane and montane cloud forest, at 1800-2835 m altitude.  Rare and endangered.

    Local name:  sacha-gualicón.