The leaf margins are wavy with numerous stout, stiff, sharp-pointed spines. However, leaves with entire margins occasionally may be found. Leaves are dull yellowish-green above and paler and more yellowish below. Leaf petioles are short, stout, and grooved with swollen bases. This plant is dioecious.
Individual flowers are in clusters on short stalks.
It contains several 1-seeded nutlets. The twigs are slender, light brown, and glabrous. The pith is small and homogeneous. The bark is gray, thin, and rough, with wart-like bumps. The dahoon holly grows on rich, moist bottomlands, boarders of swamps, and dry but well-protected slopes.