A small to medium-sized, deciduous tree upto 11 m tall with a dense, rounded crown; bark blackish-brown, deeply cut into rectangular plates, yielding a deep red latex when cut; heartwood extremely hard, dark purple. Leaves usually imparipinnate, 10-18 cm long; leaflets 3, rarely 4-5, 3.8-7.6 cm long, broadly ovate or orbicular, coriaceous, apex obtuse, slightly emarginate, undersurface pale and clothed with fine grey hairs. Flowers yellow, borne a few together in simple or sparingly branched racemes; pedicels c. 5 mm long; calyx 5-6 mm long, teeth minute, deltoid. Fruits (pods)obliquely orbicular, 3.8-5 cm in diam including the wing, base narrowed into a short, concavely curved stipe c. 8 mm long, woolly. Seeds 1-2, reddish-brown, smooth, leathery, 1-1.5 cm long.