Oddly enough, even though this species belongs to the giants in the family, it is easy to overlook the plants when not in flower, because they usually occur among other plants that are about as tall or even taller.
They form stout erect shrubs up to 1.5 m tall, with light to dark green leaves, which are to 8 cm long and 8 mm wide, three-sided with a sharp edge at the bottom.
The flowers have white or pink petals and appear in winter and early spring (July-September), usually in groups of three to seven on a short stalk; they are to 4 cm in diameter and often look untidy.
The fruits have 6-9 compartments (usually 8); once opened they do not completely close anymore.
This is the only one species in the genus and has not been recorded from outside the Breede River Valley in the Western Cape, where it occurs on clay slopes and acid sandstone soil between Worcester and McGregor. The rainfall here is 300-400 mm per year, mainly in winter.
