Arborescent shrubs 1.5-4 m with virgate plagiotropic homotinous long-shoots, probably drought-deciduous, the young stems and foliage densely softly pilosulous with fine straight, erect and ascending hairs to 0.45-0.7 mm, the ventrally low-convex lfts dull-olivaceous slightly paler dorsally, the small dense capitula of carmine fls shortly pedunculate, arising from the first, or first and second, bracteate but efoliate nodes of depauperate brachyblasts axillary to homotinous primary lvs; phyllotaxy distichous. Stipules herbaceous, triangular-lanceolate 1.5-5x 0.6-2 mm, faintly nerved, deciduous. Lf-formula i/7-9; lf-stks 2-6 mm, at middle 0.45-0.8 mm diam, shallowly grooved; rachis of longer pinnae 3-4.5(-5) cm, the longer interfoliolar segments 2-5.5(-6.5) mm; lft-pulvinules 0.25-0.5 mm; lfts usually subdecrescent proximally and otherwise subequilong, the blades obtusely rhombic-oblong from shallowly semi- cordate base, broadly obtuse apiculate, at tip straight or incipiently incurved, the larger ones 9-15 x 4-6 mm, 2.2-2.7 times as long as wide; venation primarily palmate, the midrib forwardly displaced to divide blade ±1:2, weakly 1-2-branched above middle, the inner posteRíor primary nerve incurved to or a little beyond mid-blade, the outer one shorter, these slenderly prominulous dorsally, the tertiary venulation faint. Peduncles solitary 5-12 mm, 1-bracteate below middle, the receptacle ±1.5-2 mm diam; bracts narrowly triangular 0.4-0.9 mm, persistent; fls sessile, the calyx glabrous, the corolla thinly or remotely appressed- or ascending-pilosulous; calyx deeply campanulate 1.2-1.5 x 0.6-0.8 mm, finely striate, the teeth minute; corolla slenderly tubular 5-6.4 mm, the lobes 0.6-1.4 mm; androecium 8-14-merous, dark red-brown when dried, ±2-2.3 cm, the tube 6.5-12 mm; no disc seen. Pods oblanceolate 6-8 x 1-1.1 cm, 5-6-seeded, the sutural ribs in dorsal view ±3 mm wide, the pale brown lignescent valves low-convex over each seed, closely cross-venulose, minutely densely puberulent overall; seeds (not seen quite ripe) ±7-7.5 x 5.5 mm, the U-shaped pleurogram sharply engraved.

In drought-deciduous submontane woodland, 980-1300 m, known only from the South Yungas of La Paz, Bolivia, at points 26, 30, and 52 km from Chulumani on the road to Asunta. — Fl. VI-VIII.

In the context of the Bolivian flora and the sect. Androcallis, C. chulumania is quickly identified by a leaf-formula of i/7-9, softly pilosulous leaflets, relatively short peduncles, and deep red tassel of filaments. The similar C. mollissima of northern Peru has rather fewer (4-7) pairs of leaflets per pinna and larger blades about 2-4 cm long, prevailingly longer peduncles 5-20 (not 2-6) cm long, and white (not crimson) filament-tassel. The largely Hylaean C. surinamensis can have similar leaf-formula, but is not known from Bolivia and has no pleurogram on the seed-coat.

At kilometer 30 on the Chulumani-Asunta road, Beck collected both typical C. chulumania (no. 12166, NY) and an anomalous plant (no. 12162, NY) different in longer petioles (to 10-16 mm), leaflets to pairs per pinna, and facially glabrous (but ciliate) leaflets; its status is not determined, but it could be either juvenile or a shade-form.