Shrub or tree 1- 6 m tall.  Leaves in whorls of three, pubescent, obovate to lanceolate, acuminate, 5-15 cm x 2.5-6.5 cm; inflorescence 3-15 cm long; corolla, tubular, 1.5 to 2 cm long, orange or reddish, puberulous.  Fruit subglobose or ellipsoid, 6-10 mm in diameter, red when unripe, and black when ripe.

Tree deciduous up to 16 m tall with spreading branches. Leaves alternate 20 cm x 7 cm, lanceolate to ovate, unequal at the base, margins crenate-dentate, hairy from sub-glabrous to tomentose; inflorescence axillary in panicles, flowers 3 mm with five yellow-green petals, fragrant; fruit black, woody, warty, sub-globose 1-2 cm in diameter with the faint smell of molasses, seeds numerous.