A gregarious tree of the wet Liberian lowlands, often single dominant, to 42 m high and 100 cm Ø; Base of the tree with low, thick, striate root swellings, never buttresses; bole straight and cylindrical, sometimes with fine branchlets higher up the stem. Bark ashy grey to grey-greenish, smooth when young, fairly rough and shallowly fissured when old, not scaly but with corky pustules. Slash compact fibrous, pale – bright brown, sometimes a bit yellowish. Dead outer layer very thin. Leaves pari-pinnate with 4 – 7 pairs of opposite, rhombic-falcate leaflets; red brown hairs on twigs and rachis; rachis grooved;leaflet opposite;rhombic – falcate; midrib ± diagonal. Fruit a flat, woody pod of 10 – 13 x 4 – 5 cm, with a distinct lateral ridge from the base to the tip, contaioning 1 – 3 disc-shaped seeds. The bark is sensitive to sudden exposure to sunlight, exuding a dark gum when affected. Regeneration in the dense forest present in all layers: seedlings, saplings, pole-stage, young trees. Similar looking trees are Cryptosepalum, Didelotia idea, Brachystegia, and Loesenera. See also PROTA database.