Changes

*White pear, pear wood (En). *Bois bleu, bois Marie, peau gris (Fr). *Mlambusi, mbage (Sw).

*Much-branched shrub or small to medium-sized tree up to 25 m tall; bole branchless for up to 15 m, fluted in large trees, up to 70 cm in diameter; bark surface smooth, grey, flaking off in patches, inner bark thin; twigs purplish green, glabrous to sparsely pale brown hairy, becoming grey-brown with pale lenticels. *Leaves alternate, simple; stipules absent; petiole 1–3 cm long, channelled above, pinkish; blade ovate-elliptical to broadly elliptical or oblong, 2–15 cm × 1.5–8 cm, base broadly cuneate, apex notched to obtuse, acute or short-acuminate, margin entire or sometimes wavy and slightly recurved, thin-leathery, glabrous, pinnately veined with inconspicuous lateral veins. *Inflorescence a terminal panicle, sometimes axillary, many-flowered. *Flowers bisexual, regular, 5-merous, sweet-scented, sessile or with short pedicel; calyx cup-shaped, up to 0.5 mm long, with deltoid lobes; petals free, linear, c. 5 mm × 1 mm, white; stamens alternating with petals; ovary superior, ovoid, c. 0.5 mm long, glabrous or hairy, with a fleshy lateral lobe, 1-celled, style eccentric, persistent. *Fruit an obliquely oblong-obovoid to nearly round, laterally compressed drupe 0.5–1 cm long, glabrous or sparsely short-hairy, when ripe black with large red lobe, with a persistent style; stone 1-seeded.

{{right|(L. Awoyemi, P.E. Gasson & P. Baas)}}