A shrub or small tree; stem glabrous; branches stout, green, obscurely angled; leaves opposite, decussate, leathery, elliptic, oblong-lanceolate, mucronate, acute or acuminate, 6.25-12.5 x 2.5-5 cm; petiole 5-7.5 mm long, shining above, paler beneath, glabrous. Inflorescence many flowered dense sub-sessile corymbs, slightly hairy or ± glabrous, upto c. 60 cm long. Flowers white, fragrant; bracts minute, broadly ovate. Sepals ovate green or whitish hairy, c. 4 mm long. Corolla tube c. 1.7-2.5 cm long, hairy inside, sometimes hairy externally; lobes 5 elliptic, acute, upto 6.5 mm long. Stamens alternating with the lobes of corolla, filament short, hairy; anthers ovate, connective produced into a short hairy point. Ovary 2-celled; style filiform; stigma short, apiculate. Fruit dark purple-blackish berry, 1 seeded. Seed nut-like.

Fl. Per.: April. English: Winter Sweet.

Type: S. Africa, Natal, Krauss (K).

Distribution: A native of South West Africa. Cultivated in Lahore and elsewhere in Pakistan.

The plant is highly poisonous.