Evergreen shrub or small tree, 3-4 meters high, up to 10 meters or more. Bark gray-white, smooth and indehiscent; branches spreading and dense. Leaves stiffly leathery, rectangular-orbicular, 4-8 cm long, 2-4 cm wide, enlarged apically and with 3 large pointed, stiffly spiny teeth, the central one curved toward the back, 1-2 large spiny teeth on each side of the base, surface dark green and glossy, abaxial surface light green; leaves sometimes entire, rounded at the base, and such leaves are often found in the upper part of the crowns of large trees. Flowers small, yellow-green, clustered in leaf axils of 2-year-old branches. Drupe globose, bright red, 8-10 mm in diam. Fl. Apr-May; fruit ripening Sep-Oct (Nov).