Spiny shrub or small tree up to 6 m. tall; outer bark of trunk brownish yellow peeling in large, strong, horizontal strips; exudate watery, slightly pear-scented; branches often pendulous so that their tips reach the ground; young twigs dark grey, spine-tipped with a floccose rufescent caducous indumentum when very young; a few short spines present.. Leaves all simple, sessile or with a petiole up to 3 mm. long into which the base of the lamina gradually passes without any clear line of demarcation, densely pubescent when young, often with floccose rufescent hairs, glabrescent when old, elliptic-obovate, basally cuneate, apically rounded, with 11–16 small sharp teeth on each side, 13–45 mm. long, 7–20 mm. wide.. Male flowers precocious or with the leaves, in dense clusters, sessile or almost so; calyx brown, glabrous or very sparsely pubescent, 1.5 mm. long including broadly triangular lobes 0.4 mm. long; petals dull yellow, glabrous, linear, widening slightly and reflexed towards the tip, ± 3 mm. long, 0.7–0.8 mm. wide; filaments 1.3 and 1 mm., anthers 0.7 and 0.5 mm. long.. Fruit sessile, 7.5–10 mm. long (including a 0.6–2 mm. beak) × 4.6–6 × (1–2 + 3–3.5) mm.; pericarp 2-valved; pseudaril thin, yellow, completely covering the stone which is smooth, has large apical pits and measures 5–6.7 × 3.5–4.3 × (1 + 2–3.5) mm.; sterile locule distally humped.
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