Helicteres isora is a small tree or large shrub, five to eight metres in height. It has grey bark and alternately arranged, hairy, ovate leaves with serrate margins. Its flowers are brick red or orange-red, and its fruits are green when raw, brown or grey when dried, and twisted, with a screw at its pointed end. Seeds of the plant are black or brown and are highly polished, roughly rhomboid, and rectangular or triangular.^[3][5][6][7] Pollinators of the flower include the jungle babbler, the golden-fronted leafbird, the ashy drongo, and the white-bellied drongo.