Rough-shelled Bush Nut  |  

Rough-shelled Bush Nut is a small to medium sized tree, often branched near the base, densely bushy and growing to 20 m tall. New growth is pink to red. The trunk is cylindrical, not buttressed. Outer bark is brown to greyish-brown, smooth or finely wrinkled, marked with numerous cream horizontally-elongated lenticels. Leaves are in whorls of 4, rarely 3 or 5; petioles are 2-4 mm long; blades narrowly oblong-obvoate, apex usually acute or acuminate, spine-tipped, or occassionally rounded, margin coarsely serrate, tipped with antrorse sipines, 6-20 cm long and 2-4 cm wide, glabrous and with longer juvenile leaves. The flowers are pinkish, cream or white, to purple or pale lilac. The flowers hang in long strings among the leaves. The fruit is woody brown and globular, 2-3 cm in diameter, with seeds in a hard wrinkled, brown shell inside a green husk.