An evergreen shrub, or small to medium sized tree 4–10 m high, occasionally up to 20 m.Bark smooth, grey or greyish-brown; branches terete, glabrous with ± prominent lenticels, becoming verruculose; young branchlets subangular and sparsely appressed pubescent particularly towards the apex; apical buds sericeous-tomentellous.Leaves chartaceous to subcoriaceous, glabrous; petiole 3–5 mm long; lamina 1.5–9 x 1.5–5 cm, ± orbicular to elliptic, cuspidate-acuminate or abruptly acuminate with a blunt tip, rounded to ± cuneate at the base, slightly revolute and undulate on the margin; upper surface drying greyish-brown with an impressed midrib and 3–4(7) pairs of slightly raised lateral nerves; lower surface with midrib and lateral nerves prominent; tertiary veins finely and inconspicuously reticulate.Cymes paniculately arranged, few-flowered, axillary; rhachis 1–3.5 cm long, sparsely and minutely appressed pubescent; peduncle 0.2–1 cm long, slender; bracts ovate-lanceolate, minute, soon caducous.Flowers c. 3 mm long, greenish-white to yellowish, pedicels 1–5 mm long, slender; receptacle 1–1.5 mm long, subcylindric, enlarged near the apex, sparsely appressed tomentellous outside, glabrous inside; tepals erect-patent, 1–1.5 mm long, ovate-elliptic, acute and incurved at the apex.Fertile stamens in 3 whorls, with an innermost whorl of staminodes; filaments very short, with the inner slightly shorter than the outer, slender, pilose; anthers up to 0.8 mm long, ovate, apiculate, glabrous; glands c. 0.4 mm in diameter, subglobose with stalks c. 0.2 mm long, pilose; staminodes c. 1 mm long with pilose filaments and ovate, acute to apiculate, glabrous antherodes.Ovary 0.5–0.8 mm long, ovoid to ellipsoid, glabrous; style 1.5–2 mm long, stigma capitate.Fruit 1.5–2 cm in diameter when ripe, subglobose, mature ovary enveloped by the dark purplish-black receptacle; fruiting pedicel slender.