A small evergreen tree. Leaves up to 45 cm long; leaflets 9 - 21, opposite or subopposite, oblong-lanceolate, up to 10 x 3 cm, acuminate at apex; petioles upto 11 cm long. Flowers white, in large terminal panicles. Drupes 7 ovaid, yellow when ripe; endocarp with numerous radiating spinous processes. Cultivated in gardens for their edible fruits. The fruit is used as a vegetable and sometimes pickled.