Habit : A deciduous tree with straight trunk, 4-8 m high.
Stem : 15-20 cm in diameter, greyish; brances drooping, glabrous or minutely hairy n younger parts, densely armed with straight, hard, cone-shaped thorns; brak grey, smooth.
Leaves : Elliptic, elliptic-oblong or elliptic-lanceolate, acute or shortly acuminate apex, subacute or rounded at base, entire along the margins, coriaceous, dull to dark-green, glabrous and shining above, paler and finely tomentose below, petiolesterete, pubescent.
Flowers :
Creamy-white or pinkish, in terminal spicate panicles which are 6-16 cm long, clothed with grey hairs; male flowers more than the females; bracts minute, obtuse, hairy.
Calyx 4 mm in diameter, glabrous or slightly pubescent, persistent; segments ovate, acute.
Fruit : Drupes 5-10 mm in diameter, ovoid, grooved, bilobed, 2-seeded, often 4-seeded, shining, smooth, dark purple at first, almost black later, seeds very small, greyish-green, wrinkled.
Flowering and Fruiting Time : July - September
Significance :
Hard wood is used to make implements for farming.
The bark is used for tanning and as a liniment with gingelly oil in rheumatism.
