Deciduous shrub 1-3-(4) m high. Shoots obtusely angled, floccose, tomentose when young. Lvs with petiole to c. 1 cm long or sometimes subsessile just below infl. Stipules to c. 5 mm wide, broader than long. Lamina c. 6-20 × 2.5-8 cm, ovate, less commonly lanceolate, glabrous or nearly so above, whitish or greyish tomentose below, serrulate or crenulate, occasionally with coarser teeth; base cuneate; apex acuminate. Panicles c. 30 × 5 cm, elongated and broadly cylindric, composed of dense fragrant fls; branches tomentose; pedicels very short. Calyx c. 2 mm long, tomentose; teeth < tube, lanceolate. Corolla tube 7-10 mm long when fresh, mauve to purple, orange inside, hairy outside or, less commonly, glabrous; lobes 2.5-4 mm long, obovate, mauve to purple (sometimes white in cultivation). Stamens inserted 1/2-⅔ along tube; anthers sessile. Style not reaching level of stamens. Ovary glabrous or nearly so. Capsule 5-10 mm long, cylindric-obovoid, glabrous.