A small, bushy tree up to 15 m tall, but usually smaller, often thorny and gnarled; trunk irregularly fluted and contorted, attaining a length of 2—3 m and a diameter of 60 cm, although usually much less, prolonged into large, rather long and straight branches. Bark grey to brown, rather smooth, peeling in flakes. Leaves alternate, paripinnate, distichous or fascicled on very short branches; stipules partly small and caducous, partly spine-like; leaflets in 2—4 pairs, obcordate or obovate, 10—35 mm x 5—25 mm, acute at base, emarginate at apex, closely veined and glabrous. Flowers in 5—20 cm long racemes in the axils of present or fallen leaves, 5-merous, sweet-scented; calyx 4—5 mm long, deeply lobed; petals 5—7 mm long, bright yellow; stamens 10, free; ovary superior, shortly stalked, glabrous; style filiform. Fruit a lanceolate, extremely flattened pod, 3—5 cm long, pointed at both ends, dehiscent not along the sutures but along the median of the sides, usually 2-seeded.

Astringent, tonic and anti-inflammatory (wood)

PROSEA (Plant Resources of South-East Asia) Foundation

Useful against diarrhoea, dysentery, atonic dyspepsia and leucorrhoea (decoction and liquid extract of wood); against cancer and hospital gangrene (ointment from wood).