A medium to large, often straight stemmed tree, 25—40(—50) m tall, of handsome appearance, with pale grey, cream or pink powdery bark, smooth throughout, decorticating in flakes, and somewhat sparse foliage. Twigs slender, slightly flattened, light green, tinged with brown. Leaves petiolate, strongly lemon-scented when crushed; seedling leaves opposite for a few pairs then alternate, peltate, ovate, 6.5—17 cm x 2.3—7.5 cm, pale green, slightly discolorous, setose. Inflorescence an umbelliform condensed and reduced dichasium (usually called a conflorescence), combined into clustered terminal or sometimes axillary, corymbose panicles; peduncle terete, 3—8 mm long; umbels 3-flowered; pedicel 1—6 mm long; buds pedicellate, clavate, up to 10 mm x 6 mm, scar absent; operculum hemispherical, 3—4 mm long, 4—5 mm wide, apiculate. Flowers creamy-white; hypanthium hemispherical, 5—6 mm x 4—5 mm; stamens numerous, prominent, 6 mm long, spreading 12 mm across, all fertile with subulate filaments and oblong, dorsifixed anthers dehiscing by parallel slits; pistil inferior with 3-celled ovary. Fruit a capsule, truncate-ovoid to urceolate, 8—15 mm x 7—11 mm, brown, often warty, 3-locular; disk about 2 mm wide. Seed dorsiventrally compressed, 2—3 mm x 1.5—2.5 mm, glossy red-brown, with a median dorsal keel.

Acts as a powerful antiseptic, disinfectant and antibacterial (leaf essential oil).

Plant For A Future
AgroForestryTree Database

Used for relieving coughs and colds, sore throats, influenza, cuts, ulcers, wounds and skin infections, and inhaled for treating blocked nasal passages (leaf essential oil); used internally in the treatment of diarrhoea and bladder inflammation, and externally applied to cuts (resin from the trunk)