Trees up to 25 ft., apparently gregarious owing to formation of suckers from underground parts, coppicing freely when injured, trunk up to 8 ins. in diam.; bark silvery, smooth, wood soft, mucilage present; branches leafy towards extremities only. Leaves alternate, stipulate, digitate, stipules up to 1 cm long, deciduous; leaflets 3-7, generally 5 up to 10 cm long, 2.5 cm wide, oblong, tapering towards base and apex obtuse, mucronulate, glabrous, upper surface dark green, slightly shining, lower surface greyish-green, matt, with prominent yellow midrib [as “midrid”] and pulvinus, spreading at right angles to petiole, closing upwards when dry; petioles yellow, glabrous, as long as leaflets. Inflorescence axillary, a compound cyme, bracteate, bracts deciduous. Flowers mostly male by abortion, bisexual flowers less frequent and generally on younger parts of inflorescence Calyx five-lobed, petaloid, broadly campanulate, yellow with claret coloured throat, 22-30 mm diam., lobes 10-13 mm long, tube 5-9 mm long, stellate hairs on outer surface, erect multicellular hairs on inner surface. Corolla wanting. Andro-gynophore 9-12 mm long, straight in bud but curved over in median plane in open flower, bearing cupule at tip, finely pubescent with erect multicellular hairs. Bisexual cupule spherical, about 2 mm diam., base cup-shaped with numerous multicellular hairs, upper pan formed of free filaments; filaments in two series, live long and five short, incurved, pubescent with multicellular hairs; anthers bilocular, opening by longitudinal slits, enclosing top of cupule; gynoecium of five carpels, free at base and covered with numerous stellate hairs, joined above into short style with rotate, five-lobed stigma; style in bud straight, protruding very slightly above anthers; style elongated and fully exerted in open flower, bent at an acute angle to carpels in median plane; carpels with marginal placentation; ovules numerous, anatropous. Male cupule similar to bisexual cupule but gynoecium of five minute carpels, free, without development of style or stigma. Fruit one to five free follicles radiating in star-like manner; follicles up to 9 cm long, 2.5 cm broad and 2.5 cm thick, with beak up to 1.5 cm long; outer surface woody, covered with numerous conical projections of varying sizes up to 1.5 cm long, the whole densely pubescent with golden-brown stellate hairs; dehiscence by splitting along ventral suture. Seeds 4-8 in each follicle, oval, up to 2 cm long, 1.2 cm diam., endospermous, edible.
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A small to medium sized tree. It grows about 4.5 m tall. It can be 8 m tall. The stem can be 30 cm across. When it sprawls at an angle it suckers profusely. The trunk is silver-grey. It has white patches and raised dots. The leaves are at the tips of the branches. The leaves spring one point making them look finger like. There are 2-7 stiff leathery leaflets that point upwards. They are oblong and 8-13 cm long by 1.9-2.5 cm wide. The tips have a small thorn like point. The base is narrowed. They are dark green above and paler underneath. New leaves are red. The flowers in sprays are mostly male. In the younger parts of the spray they are bisexual. Flowers hang downwards. They are yellow. The fruit has 1-5 carpels that develop into pod like structures. They are 8 cm long and boat shaped. They split down one side to release 4-8 large seeds. The seeds are edible.
Tree, 3.0-6.1 m high; suckers and coppicing common. Leaves alternate, stipulate, digitate; leaflets 3-7, oblong, pulvinus and midrib prominent, yellow. Inflorescences axillary, compound cymes; male flowers predominant; bisexual flowers on younger parts. Calyx 5-lobed, petaloid, broadly campanulate, yellow with claret-coloured throat. Petals absent. Androgynophore 9-12 mm long, curved in open flower, bearing cupule at tip. Bisexual cupule spherical ± 2 mm in diam.; base cup-shaped, gynoecium 5-carpelled, joined above into style and 5-lobed stigma; upper part formed of 10 filaments. Male cupule similar, but gynoecium apocarpous, style and stigma absent. Flowering time first flowers male, later ones bisexual, May-Aug. Fruit of 1-5 free follicles, radiating star-like. Seeds 4-8 per follicle.
Tree to 8 m, with smooth, silvery bark, gregarious by suckering. Leaves 3-7-digitate, leaflets elliptic. Flowers in axillary cymes, mostly male by abortion, yellow with reddish cup.
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