Deciduous tree up to 25 m high; bark bluish-grey; branches warty; leaves alternate, clustered towards the end of branches, broadly elliptic, narrowed equally at both ends, obtuse or rounded at apex, coriaceous, glabrous; petiole very long, up to 10 cm, glands absent; flowers greenish-yellow in solitary, axillary, simple spikes; upper flowers of spike male, lower few female; calyx pubescent, teeth recurved, deltoid, densely villous; corolla greenish yellow; petals 4-5 or absent; stamens 4-5 or 8-10, much exserted, filaments slender; disk brown-hairy; ovary 1-celled, pubescent when young; style slender, ovules 2-3, pubescent; fruits globular, suddenly narrowed into a short stalk, smooth, brown, faintly 5-angled when dry.