Dombeya cymosa is a shrub or small tree, with a round crown, 3.5–10.0 m high; stems are often bent; branchlets pale to reddish brown, hairy when young, older ones are rough; bark pale whitish to brown, smooth.

Leaves alternate, simple, ovate, sometimes lobed, 30–70 × 20–60 mm, apex tapering to attenuate, base cordate, prominently 5–7-veined from the base, dark green, turning reddish in autumn, very thin, sometimes hairy; margins crenate; petiole up to 45 mm long.

Flowers at leaf axils near ends of branchlets, about 10 mm in diameter, white, with a sweet scent, 3–12 in auxillary heads, making a round, dense, cymose inflorescence, appearing in March to September. Calyx lobed.

Fruits small, round, 4.0 × 3.5 mm, pale brown, covered with short, soft hairs; seed only 1, rough with raised lines. The growth rate is slow to moderate.