Cyrtandra paliku, a member of the Gesneriaceae (African violet) family, is a subshrub 3 to 7.5 m (9.8 to 24 ft) tall. The stems are unbranched to sparsely branched, erect, prominently ringed with leaf scars, and covered with conspicuous shaggy dark reddish-brown hairs. Leaves are oppositely arranged, clustered at the upper 3 to 7 nodes of the branch, typically with one of the opposite pair smaller than the other. The leaf blades are strongly asymmetrical, 7 to 18 cm (2.8 to 7 in) long and 4.5 to 9 cm (1.8 to 3.5 in) wide, upper and lower surfaces are villous, densely so along the veins. Inflorescences are 1- to 9-flowered and also densely shaggy villous. Calyx lobes are weakly bisymmetrical, pale green, ellipsoid, 12 to 17 mm (0.5 to 0.7 in) long. The corolla is white, slightly curved upward, and 14 to 15 mm (0.6 in) long. Berries not described.