A large tree, up to 35 m tall; trunk clear, up to 2 m in girth, branches horizontal; bark thin and smooth, slash white. Leaves drooping, thick, alternate; petiole thick, about 1 cm long; blade obovate, oblong or elliptical, up to 45 cm x 20 cm, lateral veins up to 20 pairs, secondary veins running parallel. Flowers singular, appearing at the base of young shoots when new leaves appear; pedicel up to 20 cm long, bearing a leaf-like bract at about one third from top; flower large, pendent, fragrant; calyx over 2.5 cm long, edges wavy, crisped, red-spotted; petals 6, outer 3 up to 10 cm long, with crisped margins, spotted red, yellow and green; inner 3 petals subtriangular, forming a white-yellow cone at the centre and spotted red outside and green inside. Fruit a globose berry, up to 20 cm in diameter, suspended on a long stalk, green, with numerous seeds embedded in whitish sweet-smelling pulp. Seed oblongoid, about 1.5 cm long, pale brown.

Stimulant, stomachic and insect repellent (seeds).

PROSEA (Plant Resources of South-East Asia) Foundation
Manual for the Propagation and Cultivation of Medicinal Plants in Ghana

Myristin, myristic acid (seeds)

Used to cure headache and sores, and against anaemia, haemorrhoids and sexual weakness, wounds and numbness (seeds); to treat haemorrhoids, stomach-ache, febrile pains and eye diseases (bark); for the treatment of arthritis (roots)