Small to medium sized tree to 27 m and occasionally 75 cm Ø. Bole straight and forming a distinct axis but rarely reaching the ground because of the often high, thin stilt roots. Crown small with whorled branches. Bark light brown and flaky with shallow cracks; slash thick, soft, stringy-fibrous, striped yellow-brown to pink, with a sweet aromatic scent. Leaves simple, alternate, mostly obovate. Fruit carpels 3 – 5 together, each about 5 cm long, rather fat, curved and constricted between the seeds; seeds with a cupular aril. Tree of moist valleys but occasionally on upper slopes. See also PROTA database.