Evergreen tree up to 20m. Leaves ovate-elliptic, obtuse, margins undulate, glossy above. Flowers, white, few, in axillary racemes, ovary hairy; aril green.

Greek: apoduo = to strip off; referring to the unprotected petals in bud.

After: Coert Johannes Geldenhuys (1946 - ), South African forest officer engaged in research on management of indigenous forests. The isotype of Apodytes geldenhuysii was collected by Geldenhuys in 1984 in the Vogelgat Nature Reserve, Hermanus.