Plants 2-4 m. Stems ± terete, usually glabrous or glabrescent, rarely puberulent. Leaves: petiole 4-10 mm; blade 3-7(-9) × 2-4(-5) cm, coriaceous, base narrowly cuneate to rounded, apex emarginate, round, or acute, abaxial surface usually glabrescent, adaxial surface glabrous. Inflorescences (1-)2-6 cm. Pedicels 7-12 mm, (densely felted). Flowers nocturnal, fragrant; sepals orbiculate, decussate, proximal pair 5-7 × 10-12 mm, distal pair 3.5-5 × 1-1.5 mm, falling before anthesis, glabrous; petals white, becoming yellowish or reddish white, oblong-obovate, (10-)15-20 × 12 mm; stamens 40-60(-120) mm; gynophore 4-6(-8) cm. Capsules reddish brown to yellowish, irregularly constricted between seeds, 5-15(-28) × 9-13(-17) mm, seeds in 1 or 2 rows. Seeds green, 7-14 mm, covered with oily, white pulp. 2n = 16.

Flowering spring-late summer. Coastal thickets, hummocks, marl flats; 0-10 m; Fla.; Mexico; West Indies; Central America; n South America.

Cynophalla flexuosa is wide-ranging and polymorphic; Floridian plants are sometimes recognized as subsp. flexuosa. Some South American plants are distinguished as subsp. polyantha (Triana & Planchon) H. H. Iltis.