Small tree to 10 m in the semi-deciduous forest zone, preferring rocky sites, or montane species. Twigs without thorns, with white lenticels, twig and petiole pubescent but not with conspicuous orange hairs as in V. hiernii; petiole with glands near the base. Slash fibrous, aromatic. Leaf trifoliolate, rarely simple, 5 – 25 cm long. Leaflets symmetric, narrowly elliptic – obvate, blunt acute acuminate at the top, cuneate at base, margin entire; a few translucent points. Fruits with 2 – 4 free carpels, each an ovoid drupe of about 1 cm long, containing 1 seed. Syn.: Oricia suaveolens.