Trunks are often crooked when grown in the open. Leaves are alternate, pinnately compound and about 15 cm long. Sissoo and shisham are common names for Dalbergia sissoo . It is primarily found growing along river banks below 900 m elevation, but can ranges naturally up to 1500 m. An average annual rainfall of 500 to 2000 mm is distributed in a monsoonal pattern with droughts of 3-4 months.
Seedlings are intolerant of shade.
Sissoo is among the finest cabinet, furniture and veneer timbers. The heartwood is golden to dark brown, and sapwood white to pale brownish white. Sissoo wood makes excellent charcoal for heating and cooking. Leaves and young shoots of sissoo are an important winter fodder in some areas and an emergency fodder in others. They are eaten readily by many animals, including monkeys.