Cyrtandra sessilis, a member of the Gesneriaceae (African violet) family, is a shrub 0.5 to 1 m (20 to 40 in) tall; stems branched. Leaves are in whorls of three per node, well-spaced on the upper 3 to 9 nodes, thick, papery, oblanceolate, 8 to 20 cm (3.2 to 8 in) long, and 2 to 6.4 cm (0.8 to 2.5 in) wide. The upper leaf surface is sparsely pilose along the midrib when young, otherwise glabrous. The lower leaf surface is sparsely pilose along veins. Flowers are 3 to 8 per cyme, arising in the leaf axils, and brown pilose throughout. The calyx is zygomorphic (radially symmetrical). The corolla is white with a narrowly funnelform tube curved near the middle and is 15 to 24 mm (0.6 to 0.9 in) long, and 5 to 7 mm (0.2 to 0.3 in) in diameter. Berries are white, ellipsoid, 1.4 to 1.6 cm in (0.55 to 0.6) long, and glabrous. Seeds are 0.4 mm (0.02 in) long.