Herbs up to 3 meters high or more; stems subterete, glabrous, the cystoliths minute and parallel, 0.03 to 0.16 mm. long, conspicuous and numerous toward tips of stems; leaf blades ovate or oblong-ovate, up to 23 cm. long and 11 cm. wide, slenderly and somewhat abruptly acuminate, the tip more or less curved, decurrent on the petiole from a rounded base, moderately firm, entire or shallowly undulate, both surfaces glabrous or the costa and lateral veins (about 12 pairs) sparingly hirsute, the cystoliths rather numerous and prominent, 0.48 to 0.96 mm. long; petioles (including winged portion) up to 12 cm. long, the wing up to 3 cm. broad at its widest part at base of leaf blade, glabrous, with numerous parallel cystoliths; panicle terminal, py- ramidal or rather narrowly ovoid, 20 to 46 cm. long and 4 to 11 cm. broad, the flowers rather numerous, erect or suberect on slender pedicels 1 to 1.5 cm. long, the lowermost branches of the panicle subtended by narrow leaves, the inflorescence branches dichotomously or cincinually branched, forming lax subhelicoid cymes, the entire inflorescence densely pilose with whitish spreading hairs up to 1 mm. long, terminated by elongated glands; bracts narrowly triangular, 2 to 2.5 mm. long, about 0.5 mm. wide at base, acute, glandular-pilose; calyx 10 to 15 mm. long, deeply segmented, the segments linear- lanceolate, 0.75 to 1.5 mm. wide, acute, densely glandular-pilose without, glabrous within, delicately 5-nerved; corollas red, 18 to 20 mm. long, pilose with long spreading glandular hairs, the tube 3 mm. broad at base, enlarged to 3 mm. at 3 mm. above base, thence abruptly enlarged to 10 mm. at middle and again narrowed to 6 or 7 mm. at mouth, strongly ventricose, curved at tip, the upper lip oblong-obovate, more or less erect, 7 mm. long, 2 mm. wide at base, 3.5 mm. wide above middle, rounded and entire at tip, the lower lip slightly spreading, 5 mm. long, 10 mm. wide, 3-lobed, the lobes ovate, 2 mm. long, 3.75 mm. wide, rounded; stamens exserted 4 to 15 mm. beyond the mouth of the corolla and inserted at its base, glabrous; anthers 5 mm. long, 1.5 mm. broad, oblong and slightly curved; style slightly exceeding the stamens, glabrous, the stigma minute, obtuse; capsules clavate, glabrous, 16 mm. long, the seed-bearing portion 4 mm. wide and about 3 mm. thick, the solid stipe 6 mm. long and 3 mm. wide; seed 4, brown, Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, No. 1354534, collected in dense woods on the west side of Mount Peña Blanca, near Charta, Department of Santander, Colombia, 2,500 to 2,600 meters altitude, February 11, 1927, by E. P. Killip and A. C. Smith (No. 19257). Isotypes: GH, NY.
Araque-M, and Barkley's No. 18S.341, collected in dense humid forests east of Bucaramanga, Department of Santander, Colombia, about 2,000 meters altitude, December 18, 1948, is also of this species. Habracanthus smithii can be readily recognized by its large, densely glandular-pilose panicles of red flowers with conspicuously ventricose corollas.