Herbs or suffrutescent plants up to 60 cm. high or more, ascending, rooting at the nodes; stems subquadrangular, about 4 mm. in diameter near base, the lower parts glabrous, the upper parts retrorsely pilose, the hairs up to 0.6 mm. long, conspicuously septate; leaf blades oblong- elliptic, up to 10 cm. long and 2.5 cm. wide, acute to acuminate, nar- rowed at base, the upper surface rather densely pilose, the hairs purplish, curved, ascending, up to 0.75 mm. long, conspicuously septate; the lower surface more or less glabrous except the costa and veins (about 8 pairs), these hirtellous, the hairs ascending, about 0.28 mm. long, the cystoliths obscure; petioles up to 1.5 cm. long, rather slender, more or less pilose; flowers borne in terminal spikes up to 6 cm. long and 15 mm. broad; peduncles 2 to 3 cm. long, quad- rangular, bifariously hirsute, the hairs ascending, the rachis glabrous or sparingly hirtellous; bracts lanceolate, about 5 mm. long and 2 mm. wide, acute, glabrous, the cystoliths minute, parallel, conspicuous; bractlets lanceolate, about 6.5 mm. long and 1.5 mm. wide, acute, glabrous or hirtellous near tip; calyx 22 mm. long, glabrous, deeply segmented, the segments narrowly lanceolate, 1.5 mm. wide, acu- minate, minutely ciliolate, the hairs ascending, the cystoliths more or less conspicuous; corollas not seen; capsules clavate, 18 mm. long, 4 mm. broad, 3 mm. thick, glabrous, the retinacula 2 mm. long, curved, narrow, acute at tip; seed (immature) ovoid, flattened, about 2 mm. long and 1.5 mm. wide, brownish, muricate. Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, No. 1122813, collected at Paime, Department of Cundinamarca, Colombia, 1922, by Bro. Ariste-Joseph (No. "B"). The specific epithet is from the Greek Toppipeos, purple, and κóun, hairs, in allusion to the pubescence of the upper surface of the leaf blades.