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An under shrub in the forest. It grows 3-8 m high. The plant has many branches and often these droop over. The bark is smooth and grey. It is often dotted with breathing pores. It has spines. These are single, straight and needle like. They are 1-6 cm long. They occur beside the leaves. The leaves are thin, long and oval. The leaves occur in clusters. They can be 4-9 cm long and with 3-5 veins. These are slightly raised on both surfaces. The edges of the leaves have teeth but these can be rounded. The leaf stalk is short. The flowers occur as either one or a few together near the leaves or spines. The flowers are hairy and yellow-green. They have about 20 easy to see stamens. The female flowers have hairs on the calyx lobes. The female flowers occur singly while the male flowers grow several together. The fruit are oval and about 2 cm long. They are orange red and fleshy. They are edible. The fruit hang down and have an enlarged layer of red leaves (calyx) bent back and with a fringe of sticky hairs. The fruit have a strong distinctive smell. There are 2 woolly covered seeds inside.
Male flowers in 1–4-flowered axillary fascicles; pedicels 2–3 mm. long, shortly and densely pubescent; calyx lobed almost to the base, lobes 5–6, 3–4 x 1–2.5 mm., lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, apex acute, margin entire or occasionally with a few coarse teeth and sometimes with one or two glandular hairs; stamens c. 20; filaments slender, 5 mm. long, inter-staminal glands minute, puberulous.
Leaf-lamina 2.5–9 x 1.4–4.3 cm., membranous or thinly coriaceous, somewhat shining above, narrowly ovate, elliptic or ovate, apex obtuse or subacute, broadly cuneate, obtuse or rarely slightly cordate at the base, margin remotely crenulate or entire, glabrous on both sides, with 5–7 basal nerves, venation laxly reticulate and subprominent on both sides; petiole c. 2 mm. long, puberulous.
Female flowers 1–2 per axil; calyx of 6–10 lobes divided almost to the base, c. 6.5 x 2 mm., narrowly lanceolate, often incurved at the acuminate apex, margin with dense stalked glands, both sides pubescent; annular disk pubescent, undulate and segmented; ovary ovoid, pubescent with two pubescent divergent styles c. 3 mm. long; stigmas narrow, ± bilobed.
Fruiting calyx accrescent and pinkish-green or red, the marginal glands are also much enlarged and become fimbriate-ciliate, the calyx-lobes equal or slightly exceed the fruit.
Bush or small tree up to c. 7 m. tall; young branches slender, pubescent at first, becoming glabrous, usually armed with slender, straight spines up to c. 5 cm. long.
Seeds c. 8 x 6 mm., obovoid; testa with a dense brown wool.
Fruit fleshy, red, ellipsoid, puberulous, 2-seeded.
