The flowers are inflated-tubular with a closed mouth and are 15–20 mm long; form dense spike-like inflorescences, up to 200 mm long, towards the tips of the main branches; borne singly or in pairs in the axil of a leaf; colour varies from locality to locality and from bush to bush, ranging from orange-red, purple, dark red, greenish cream, and white, to various shades of pink; bright attractive flowers can be found throughout the year but mainly in summer and autumn (December to April). After pollination the flowers dry, each holds a fruit with 4 locules/chambers containing numerous small seeds. The seeds are shed when ripe. Slow-growing and long-lived, robust, erect, well-branched shrub, 0.5–1.0 m tall, growing to a height of 1.8 m if left undisturbed. It has small, linear leaves, 6–10 mm long, arranged in whorls of 4 to 6.
