Slender glabrous shrub or small tree up to 5 m. tall, with sparse, short (5–15 mm.) lateral spines, the longer shoots longitudinally ridged when young, not spine-tipped; trunk cylindric; bark smooth, dark green, the outer layer thin, peeling in large translucent flakes; slash smooth, white; exudate copious, oily, faintly scented, clear, without any trace of milkiness; twigs with sparse circular lenticels ± 0.5 mm. in diameter.. Leaves mainly scattered singly but some rather bunched together around the inflorescences, almost all hetero-3-foliolate; petiole 3–5(–10) mm. long; lateral leaflets suboblong, entire, ± caducous, sometimes absent, 1–5 mm. long, ± 1 mm. wide; lamina oblong or elliptic-oblong, rounded or broadly cuneate at the base, rounded or pointed and apiculate at the apex, up to 10 mm. long and 50 mm. wide; midrib prominent beneath; main lateral veins 7–9 on each side, uniting before reaching the margin; ultimate vein network fine but prominent and distinct; margin cartilaginous with 5–15 minute crenate serrations on each side whose steep (adapical) side is only ± 0.3 mm. long.. Only very immature ♂ flowers seen, clustered densely 5–20 together at the tips of leafy or leafless branches on pedicels up to 2 mm. long; calyx ± 2 mm., including broadly triangular lobes 0.4 mm. long; corolla red, ± 4 mm. long.. Female flowers dark red, subsessile, 2–4 together in dense clusters at the tips of leafy branchlets; calyx 1.5 mm. including triangular lobes ± 0.5 mm. long; petals linear, recurved and apiculate at the tip, 3 mm. long.. Fruit stalk 1–2 mm. long; drupe subglobose, 8 × 7.5 × (3 + 4.5) mm.; pericarp 2-valved, ± 1 mm. thick; pseudaril covering most of the stone with 2 distinct sutural lobes and a very irregular margin over the faces; stone minutely verrucose, with 2 large apical pits, ± 7 × 7.5 × (2.5 + 3.5) mm., the sterile locule narrowly humped distally so that the stone appears triquetrous when viewed from above.. Fig. 3/12–16, p.10.
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