Small to medium tree, usually up to 15 m, rarely up to 40 m by 45 cm ø; sometimes a scrambling shrub. Leaves petioled, broadly elliptic or elliptic obovate to oblong, (6-)9-17(-23) by (2.5-)4.5-8.5(-10) cm, coriaceous, base narrowly acute to broadly cuneate, nearly always attenuate, apex blunt, usually terminated by a short, broad, and blunt acumen; midrib grooved above, towards the base sometimes flattish; nerves 5-8(-9) pairs, minutely grooved above, grooved to prominulous beneath, usually inconspicuous or sometimes invisible; petiole 1-4 cm, mostly slender, exauriculate; axillary scale more than halfway up to nearly completely adnate to the petiole, but appressed to the twig, not conspicuous, 2.5-5 mm long, blunt to rounded. Inflorescences cymose, few-to many-flowered, dense to lax, always relatively small, the branches often more or less drooping, pedicels sometimes very slender, 0.5-3 cm, with l(-3) pairs of small bracteoles, inserted from about halfway to just below the calyx. Calyx campanulate, c. 6-7 mm(-1.5 cm), divided about halfway or somewhat more. Corolla-tube funnel-shaped (basal half mostly tubular), slender, 2.25-5 cm long. Anthers bifid to c. 1/3-1/2 from the base, oblong (to elliptic), 3-5 mm. Stigma small, subobconical, slightly 2-lobed or entire. Fruits broadly ellipsoid-obovoid to-ovoid, abruptly terminated by a strong long-conical beak, the whole fruit 3-4 cm long, orange or red; pedicels apparently somewhat lengthened, calyx appressed, slightly accrescent.
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A small or medium sized tree. It grows 15 m high. It can be taller. The trunk can be 1 m across. The bark is rough and dark grey. The leaves are broadly oval and 9-17 cm long by 5-9 cm wide. The flowers are creamy-white. They are in bunches among the leaves. The fruit are small and egg shaped with cone shaped beaks. They are waxy white when mature.
In and along the edges of rain-forests, as well on a dry as on a swampy or temporarily inundated soil, furthermore in secondary forests, in palm-swamps and in mossy oak forests, 0-1530(-2000) m. Fl. Jan.-Dec., fr. April, June-Nov.
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Dry or dense forest, in forest patches in grassland, and infrequently on the inner edges of mangrove swamps; at elevations up to 500 metres.
It is a tropical plant. It grows in swamp forests. It grows from sea level to 500 m above sea level.
Uses. A hard, heavy timber, very durable, esteemed by the natives, who use it for making combs, houseposts, canoes, etc., also suitable for survey-marks, heavy construction, and turnery. In Fiji tea made from the bark and leaves is used medicinally. The fruits are sometimes pickled and eaten.
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The fruit are occasionally pickled.
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