A semi-succulent shrub or small tree to 3m with thickened lower stems and swollen base cultivated as a garden ornamental. The bark is smooth and grey.
Flowers
Flowers are 2.5-5cm long, funnel-shaped, 5-lobed and clustered at the ends of branches, white, pink or red in colour often pale with a darker margin.
Leaves
Leaves are leathery in texture, clustered towards the ends of the branches and spirally arranged. They are broadest above the middle (obovate) or oblong or elliptic in shape with a rounded apex, 5-22cm long and 0.5-6cm wide. Leaves can be hairy or not.
Fruit/Berries
The fruit are tapered pods borne in pairs, grey or grey brown in colour, 15-16cm long and containing long narrow cylindric seeds that are tipped at each end with a tuft of long silky golden-brown hairs.
Other
Symptoms
All parts of the plant are toxic. Symptoms may include slow heart beat, low blood pressure, lethargy, dizziness and stomach upset.