Trees, up to 30 m tall. Bark light to brown-gray darkening with age, fibrous, rough and fissured on old trees, exfoliating in short, vertical bands or in coarse fragments. Leafy branchlets opposite or alternate on leafless branchlet; either one of several on top of old leafy branchlets in the axils with one or two spreading scales. Leafless branchlets with the dispersed, spreading scales, are coriaceous, roundish, 1-2 mm long on young plants and 4 mm like the small leaves on fertile specimens. Leaves of young plants distichous and equally twisted at their base, lanceolate with a soft tip; the distinct midrib on the lower surface has a narrow, sharp ridge, and on the upper surface has a fine groove, 30×6 mm. Adult leaves oval-lanceolate, 6-15 × 2.5-4 m, becoming non distichous but always equally turned, coriaceous; the distinct midrib has a narrow raised band; the edges of the bands dry to form two parallel ridges on each of the two faces.
