diff --git a/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/Database/Connection.php b/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/Database/Connection.php
index 8f6e7dfe287..c95d2ec9d87 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/Database/Connection.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/Database/Connection.php
@@ -452,8 +452,9 @@ public function describe($table) {
 		list($sql, $params) = $this->_driver->describeTableSql($table);
 		$statement = $this->execute($sql, $params);
 		$schema = [];
-		// TODO complete.
-		// TODO add tableParameters for platform specific features.
+
+		$fieldParams = $this->_driver->extraSchemaColumns();
+
 		while ($row = $statement->fetch('assoc')) {
 			list($type, $length) = $this->_driver->columnType($row['Type']);
 			$schema[$row['Field']] = [
@@ -465,6 +466,11 @@ public function describe($table) {
 			if (!empty($row['Key'])) {
 				$schema[$row['Field']]['key'] = $this->_driver->keyType($row['Key']);
 			}
+			foreach ($fieldParams as $key => $metadata) {
+				if (!empty($row[$metadata['column']])) {
+					$schema[$row['Field']][$key] = $row[$metadata['column']];
+				}
+			}
 		}
 		return $schema;
 	}
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/Database/Dialect/MysqlDialectTrait.php b/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/Database/Dialect/MysqlDialectTrait.php
index 9ace166d4a1..249024159fd 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/Database/Dialect/MysqlDialectTrait.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/Database/Dialect/MysqlDialectTrait.php
@@ -131,4 +131,23 @@ public function columnType($column) {
 		return 'text';
 	}
 
+/**
+ * Get additional column meta data used in schema reflections.
+ *
+ * @return array
+ */
+	public function extraSchemaColumns() {
+		return [
+			'charset' => [
+				'column' => false,
+			],
+			'collate' => [
+				'column' => 'Collation',
+			],
+			'comment' => [
+				'column' => 'Comment',
+			]
+		];
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/Database/SqlDialectTrait.php b/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/Database/SqlDialectTrait.php
index 537fe89edc9..cb2b68e9c88 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/Database/SqlDialectTrait.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/Database/SqlDialectTrait.php
@@ -176,4 +176,14 @@ public function rollbackSavePointSQL($name) {
 		return 'ROLLBACK TO SAVEPOINT LEVEL' . $name;
 	}
 
+/**
+ * Get extra schema metadata columns
+ *
+ * This method returns information about additional metadata present in the data
+ * generated by describeTableSql
+ *
+ * @return void
+ */
+	abstract function extraSchemaColumns();
+
 }
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Test/TestCase/Model/Datasource/Database/Driver/MysqlTest.php b/lib/Cake/Test/TestCase/Model/Datasource/Database/Driver/MysqlTest.php
index f3f48256cf0..00f8cbb97bc 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Test/TestCase/Model/Datasource/Database/Driver/MysqlTest.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Test/TestCase/Model/Datasource/Database/Driver/MysqlTest.php
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ protected function _createTables($connection) {
 body TEXT,
 author_id INT(11) NOT NULL,
 created DATETIME
-)
+) COLLATE=utf8_general_ci
 SQL;
 		$connection->execute($table);
 	}
@@ -250,12 +250,14 @@ public function testDescribeTable() {
 				'null' => true,
 				'default' => null,
 				'length' => 20,
+				'collate' => 'utf8_general_ci',
 			],
 			'body' => [
 				'type' => 'text',
 				'null' => true,
 				'default' => null,
 				'length' => null,
+				'collate' => 'utf8_general_ci',
 			],
 			'author_id' => [
 				'type' => 'integer',