Glabrous shrub, 1.8–4.5(–7) m. tall, with lateral branches often short and reduced to spurs; bark mid-to dark grey, often fissured.. Leaves sessile to subsessile; blades drying grey-green or occasionally blackish, oblong-elliptic to linear-oblong, 0.5–3.6(–4.5) cm. long, 0.3–1.3(–1.7) cm. wide, rounded at apex, acute at base, with both lateral and tertiary nerves obscure or occasionally with lateral nerves somewhat apparent, subcoriaceous, dull above; domatia absent or present as ciliate to pubescent cavities; stipules triangular, apiculate, 1–3 mm. long.. Flowers unisexual or ? hermaphrodite, 4-merous; umbels sessile to subsessile.. Functionally ♂ flowers 1–5; pedicels 1.5–3 mm. long; bracts ovate, 2–2.5 mm. long, acuminate; calyx-tube reduced; limb lobed to base; lobes triangular, 1–1.25 mm. long; corolla white or yellowish; tube 2–5 mm. long, densely congested with hairs at throat; lobes ovate, 2–4 mm. long, 1.5–2 mm. wide, shortly apiculate; stigmatic knob ± globose, 1 mm. in diameter.. Functionally ♀ (and hermaphrodite) flowers 1–2; pedicels usually shorter; calyx-tube 0.75–1 mm. long.. Fruit orange-brown, edible, ± heart-shaped, usually slightly wider than long, 7–9 mm. long, 9–11 mm. wide, somewhat indented at apex; pyrene obovoid, flattened on ventral face, 7 mm. long, 4 mm. wide with a shallow crest around the apex, rugulose.
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A shrub or small tree. It grows 2-6 m tall. The leaves only have short stalks. The leaves are oblong and 1-5 cm long by 1-2 cm wide. They are rounded at the tip. The flowers are of one sex and have 4 parts. The male flowers are as 1-5 together and the female flowers occur singly. They are white or yellow. The fruit is heart shaped and edible. It is 7-10 mm long by 9-11 mm wide. It has 2 stones.
It is a tropical plant. In the north of Somalia it grows between 940-1,710 m altitude and to 130 m in the south of Somalia. In Kenya it is recorded between sea level and 350 m and then between 800-1,900 m above sea level.
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