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*A small, much branched tree 4–7(–10) m high; bark grey, trunk with many woody, prickle-bearing protuberances; stems sometimes armed with prickles up to c. 8 mm long. *Leaves alternate, (im)paripinnately compound with (2–)3–8 pairs of leaflets, 4–12 cm long; stipules absent; rachis together with petiole 4–8 cm long, deeply grooved above; leaflets sessile, opposite or alternate, becoming progressively larger from the basal pair upwards to the apical one, apical leaflet commonly aborted, leaflets elliptical to broadly elliptical or obovate, 1–4 cm × 1.2–3 cm, apex obtuse or rounded, base asymmetrical, cuneate, with small auricles, margin slightly toothed, with glandular dots at margins. Inflorescence a terminal panicle 2–6 cm long. *Flowers unisexual, 4-merous, regular; pedicel 0.5–1.5 mm long; sepals ovate, c. 0.5 mm long, persistent in fruit; petals narrowly elliptical, imbricate, 2.7–3.1 mm × 1.1–3 mm; male flowers with 4 stamens, ovary rudimentary; female flowers with 4 staminodes inserted at the base of a stout gynophore, ovary glabrous, ovoid, conspicuously dotted with glands, 1-locular, 2-ovulate, style c. 0.8 mm long; stigma discoid, black. *Fruit a globose follicle, 4–5 mm in diameter, brownish red to orange-brown, 2-seeded. *Seed black, shiny.