Slender monoecious trees 5–30 m high, to 35 cm d.b.h.; bark grey and fissured, or thinner, white and papery (A. papyracea, A. ilicifolia). Heteroblastic with distinctive leaf changes from juvenile to adult development stages. Cotyledons 2, opposite, slightly ovate, distinctly petiolate. Juvenile stages with leaves often longer than adult stage leaves: 20–200 mm long, 10–55 mm wide, margin sinuate, toothed or angular dentate with ± bristles, drip tip 5–10 mm long, sometimes aristate. Adult stages with leaves alternate or whorled; lamina elliptic to angular obovate, 65–140 mm long, 15–35 mm wide, margin entire to angular-toothed, without bristles, venation 12 or more secondary veins, areolate; petioles distinctive, 5–10 mm long. Inflorescences terminal, acrotonic, corymbose-paniculate with abundant bisexual, small, white, aromatic flowers with parts in fives regularly placed around the pistil. Bracts caducous. Bracteoles tiny, persistent. Buds clavate. Sepals spreading from base, less than c. ⅓ corolla length, ovate, yellow-green. Petals mostly spreading, linear-spathulate, 5–9 mm long, margins recurving lengthwise, creamy white. Stamens: filaments longer than anthers, remaining regularly placed opposite the sepals, tapering to apex, white; anthers versatile, gold-coloured, dehiscing by slits, caducous. Pistil with wide receptacle, gynophore 2 mm long; ovary bilocular, globose; style 2 mm long; stigma insignificant. Fruit numerous, loculicidally dehiscent capsules, often unequally bilocular, pear-shaped to tetragonal due to septal depressions, 5–16 mm long, 5–20 mm diam. (plus thick stalk 1–3 mm long), mainly bright orange-red fading to yellow-brown with age, sometimes deeper yellow (A. melanosperma); endocarp bright orange to red; funicles small, peg-like, inserted towards the base of the chamber. Seeds either solitary or few and mainly in one chamber (A. rhombifolia, A. edentate, A. ilicifolia), or 1–4 inserted vertically to form an ovate ball (A. papyracea, A. melanosperma), or up to 6 seeds inserted horizontally in each chamber, reniform or hemispherical, 2–7 mm long (depending on the number of seeds in the chamber), black, glossy, minutely pitted or ridged, not sticky or resinous; aborted ovules common.
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