[3][4] Arthur Allman Bullock,[5] the botanist who first formally described the species, using the synonymous subspecies name Cryptolepis sinensis subsp.

The region between the petioles of adjacent leaves is ridged and have reddish, tooth-shaped secretory glands called colleters.

Its flowers have 5 free, hairless, egg-shaped to triangular sepals that are 2 by 0.7 millimeters with pointed tips.

The linear to egg-shaped, hairless lobes of the petals are 7–8 by 1 millimeters with blunt to pointed tips.

Its corona have 5 free, club-shaped, hairless, fleshy lobes that are 0.5 millimeters long and attached half-way up the petal tubes.

The stamen have rudimentary filaments and egg-shaped to triangular, cream-colored anthers that are covered in shaggy hairs.