Stem margins are shallowly through deeply crenate and undulate. Evergreen, it has long-stalked, obovate, basal leaves which are shallowly lobed or toothed. The blue-green leaves are tough and leathery, deciduous, long, and entire or shallowly lobed. The leaves have shallowly toothed margins, usually are pubescent and they drop in late autumn. The bark is smooth and greenish-grey, becoming shallowly fissured in all old trees. The flower has a shallowly toothed calyx which is sometimes split on one side. The calyx is campanulate and shallowly two-lipped. Armadillids generally have a strongly convex body shape, with some rather shallowly convex. It possesses small maxillary barbels and an unfringed shallowly arcuate upper lip. Leaves have a shallowly toothed margin, where the teeth have fine hairs at their ends. The shallowly rooted, large, branching rhizomes spread over time to create large clumps. The bark is grey-brown and shallowly grooved. The seeds are greenish-brown and are smooth or shallowly pitted. The submarine phase ends when the volcano is only shallowly submerged. A small, shallowly submerged rock shelf provides critical feeding and spawning habitat for the pupfish.