are small deciduous trees with rather smooth barks that can reach 5 m in
height. The trunk is robust with a somewhat smooth bark that is brownish
or sometimes even gray. The leaves are either grouped
atop the small branches or are helically arranged. Stipules are more or
less deciduous, triangular and can reach 6 mm in length. The leaves of
juvenile plants are reddish, with slender petioles that measure 3 to 6
mm. The lamina is smooth, obovoid or elliptical, 3.5 to 7.5 cm by 2.5 to
4 cm. The midvein is prominent on both surfaces, while the secondary veins
are not as prominent as the primary veins.
Male inflorescences are found to grow at the same time as the juvenile leaves. They are axillary and grouped in fascicules. The bracts are concave and between 1 to 3 mm in length. Older bracts do not tend to fall off and hence persist and look like bracteoles, as they are filiform in shape. Pedicels are very slender and have variable length, but they can reach 6 mm in length. The sepals are oblong, 2 by 1 mm and rather rounded at the tip. Female flowers are most of the time solitary and bear pedicels that can reach 5 to 8 mm long. Sepals are yellowish-green and they can be of unequal sizes. They are also oblong, 2 by 1 – 1.5 mm in length and rather rounded at the tip. There are 2 styles that are yellowish, somewhat flattened and bilobed.
The fruit exists in
the form of a berry that is blue-green in colour. It is indehiscent, some
5 to 6 mm in diameter with a thin pericarp. There are 4 grains that have
a pale brown testa.