A glabrous, 6-20 m tall, evergreen tree. Leaves with 2-6 cm long, pulvinate petiole; lamina very variable, entire to 3-5-lobed, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, elliptic, 5-10 cm long, 2-6 cm broad, acuminate or cuspidate, glabrous. Inflorescence a pendulous panicle. Flowers unisexual, showy; pedicel 2-8 mm long, articulate. Calyx bell-shaped, 1-2 cm long and across, lobed up to middle, yellowish-creamy-greenish red, reddish within and variegated above, purplish below. Staminal column c. 5 mm long, dilated towards base, glabrous. Ovary slightly tomentose. Follicles on 2-3 cm long stalk, brown, elliptic, flattened, 4-6 cm long, 1.5-2.5 cm broad, glabrous, acute. Seeds rounded, 3-4 mm in diameter, yellow, covered with long stiff stellate hairs.

Fl.Per.: March-May.

Type: Described from Australia.

Distribution: Indigenous to Australia; cultivated in Pakistan and other countries.

It is planted along roadside and in gardens for shade and its variegated showy flowers. Shoots are used as fodder in times of drought.