Leaves of
tiquilia plicata are crossed by prominent, recessed, pinnate veins (four to seven pairs), and covered with appressed white hairs. Leaf margins and ridges bear a few short spines. Leaves are evergreen, densely clustered, on zig-zag stems which have an opposite branching arrangement.
The small, funnel-shaped flowers have a white, pink or reddish corolla, with five shallow lobes, and five yellow-tipped stamens, not exserted. The calyx is divided into five pointed lobes, and has a covering of relatively long hairs, on the inner surface. Flowers are solitary, at the leaf nodes, and sessile.