The tree has a characteristic low branching habit and an open crown which allows substantial light under its canopy. This characteristic accounts for the trees use in combination with food crops on farms and particularly in home gardens in south east Nigeria. The bole produces a reddish-orange coloration after a slash is made. Stem form is usually crooked and buttressed. Some straight-stemmed and less buttressed trees, which can pass for good timber, are occasionally seen in the forests.
Leaves possess a stout angular petiole.
The compound leaves are usually about 20-45 cm long and covered with rusty hairs giving a scurfy effect particularly along the upper surface but this eventually falls off. There are 10-12 pairs of stout opposite pinnae. The middle pairs are 7-13 cm long and also have rusty hairs along the central grove. Flowering commences at variable periods within West Africa. The main flowering seasons is between March-April with smaller flushes in June and November.