An evergreen spiny shrub or tree to 8m with a rounded crown. The bark is grey with spines up to 4cm long. Branchlets with very clear dotted breathing pores (lenticles). The leaves are shiny dark green and oval to 5cm diameter with a blunt tip and unevenly rounded edge. The flowers are green sepals. The female flowers are single but the male flowers are in clusters with many stamens. The fruits are round berries of 2cm diameter, surrounded by the calyx, green and hairy at first then smooth orange-yellow flesh around the seeds.
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