Small tree or shrub with whorled, leathery leaves. Flowers are in dense spike-like racemes. The large almond-shaped fruits are distinctive and are covered with a felt of dense brown hairs. Fragments of Jan van Riebeeck's hedge, planted with this species, can still be seen on Wynberg Hill and at Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens and have been proclaimed National Monuments. (Jan van Riebeeck, 1619-1671, first Commander of the Cape, holding office from 1652 to 1662).