Evergreen trees, up to 25 m high with a single bole; trunk wider and fluted at base, sparingly branched upwards, with a distinct pith; wood coarse, fibres long; bark somewhat corky, smooth or slightly fissured, reddish-grey, dark-grey with age; old leaves well spaced due to elongation of boles, deciduous shortly after flush of new closely spaced leaves, which form the spherical terminal clusters, develops Leaves alternate, twice compound, first division digitate bearing vertebrate leaflets; petiole terete, ribbed glabrous, up to 90 cm long, up to 1 cm thick, swollen at the base; stipules 2, intrapetiolar, more or less joined at the base, adnate to the petiole, approximate or fairly wide apart, broadly-subulate, coriaceous, up to 3 cm long; outline of lamina orbicular, up to 40 cm in diam., comprised of 6-12 leaflets; leaflets coriaceous to chartaceous depending on age; shiny and darkgreen above, darkgreen beneath, rarely simple, usually vertebrate with 1-5 articulations, 10-35 cm long; vertebrae petioluled or sessile; petiolules with wings or up to 5 pinnules; base of petiolule and articulations with scales, scales rarely absent; pinnules broadly obovate, lanceolate to lanceolate-oblong, cuneate; base narrowly to broadly decurrent, apex often mucronate, margin entire or sparsely to coarsely serrate, rarely sinuate-serrate; rhachilla wings entire, obovate to obtriangular, base cuneate, main nerves raised on both surfaces, secondary nerves immersed above, inconspicuous beneath. Leaf-scars persistent on young trunks, disappearing lower down. Pseudo-inflorescence biennial; in the first year consisting of 10-40 spreading sparsely leafy primary branches produced at the thickened apex of the stem, each branch up to 60 cm long, 3-7 cm thick, warty, bearing a cluster of 5-6 cm long imbricate and stipular bracts at its apex. Primary branches casting their leaves in the second season and develop the true inflorescence at its apex, consisting of 4-8 plano-terete peduncles arranged in an umbel, each peduncle bearing a short thick terete, 8-14 cm long, 4-6 cm thick flowering spike; bracts at the base of each peduncle 3-5, triangular in shape. Flowers densely spirally arranged, sessile, yellowish green. Bracts linear, chartaceous, ciliate to fimbriate, 6-12 mm long, upper 2-3 mm caducous; bracteoles carinate, fimbriate, 2-5 mm long. Calyx rim 2-3 mm high, margin 5-toothed, fringed. Petals 5, valvate, deltoid, acuminate. Stamens 5, alternating with the petals; anthers oblong, introrse, versatile, spreading, caducous. Ovary inferior, bilocular; styles persistent-approximate, fleshy; stigma folded, introrse, spreading. Disc flat, rugose. Fruit up to 3 cm long, 1 cm broad, conical, mauve and fleshy when fertile; calyx somewhat accrescent; seed solitary by abortion, 1 cm long, plano-convex, crested, rugose; raphe ventral; areole linear; testa brown; endosperm ruminate.
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Perennial tree, tall and slender, sparsely branched, up to 25 m high. Bark reddish grey when young, dark grey, smooth or slightly fissured to corky in mature stage. Leaves multidigitate, up to 400 mm in diam., with 6-12 leaflets, first and second divisions triangular-winged rachillae and lateral pinnules; leaflets rarely single, mostly vertebrate with 1-5 joints, 100-350 mm long, pinnules obovate to lanceolate-oblong, leathery, lower surface dull dark green, upper shiny dark green, base decurrent, apex tapering, margins entire to mostly coarsely toothed; petioles up to 900 mm long, ribbed; petiolules of primary leaflets slightly winged towards leaf. Flowers in double umbel of spikes, comprising 4-8 short, thick spikes, 80-150 x 40-60 mm, forming a candelabra-like head; greenish cream-coloured, sessile, subtended by 3 bracts. Flowering time Mar.-June. Fruit obconical, up to 6 mm in diam., fleshy, purple, bract clasping fruit, densely crowded along spikes (July-Dec.).
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