Shrub to 2 (rarely 3) m high. Leaves papery, broadly ovate, 1–6 cm long, 6–35 mm wide, apex obtuse, base shallowly to deeply cordate or rounded, sparsely stellate to slightly scabrous above, sparsely to moderately stellate-hairy beneath, margins entire to irregularly crenate, plane to recurved; petiole to c. 2 mm long. Flowers mostly pendent, clasped by subtending leaves; pedicel 2–4 mm long; calyx hemispherical, truncate to undulate or rarely shortly 4-lobed, fawn to rusty-tomentose; corolla narrowly cylindric, 2.5–4.5 cm long, red with green tips or dull green. Flowers mostly autumn-spring.
LoM, Wim, GleP, Brid, VVP, VRiv, GipP, OtP, WaP, Gold, CVU, GGr, DunT, NIS, EGL, EGU, WPro, HSF, HNF, OtR, MonT, HFE, VAlp. Also SA, Qld, NSW, Tas. The most widespread and variable variety of C. reflexa, occurring in a wide range of habitats, from sandy heath to dry, rocky sites in open-forest.
This variety appears readily to form hybrid swarms with C. alba (e.g. around Port Phillip Bay, Cape Nelson), and in eastern Victoria it grades with var. lobata and var. speciosa. Variants from drier sites in eastern Victoria are distinctive in having relatively large leaves, and slender corollas.
