Brabejum is a spreading, multi-stemmed, well-shaped evergreen tree. It may grow as tall as 15 m, but has wide spreading branches and a sprawling habit. The smooth bark is pale greyish-brown and attractively mottled. The green, leathery leaves are toothed and lance-shaped. They appear in whorls of about six, at intervals along the stems, radiating out from the branch like a star. Young leaves are soft, velvety and golden. The tiny, white, sweetly scented, bisexual flowers appear in summer, in dense racemes. The nut-like fruits look similar to almonds and grow in clusters at the tips of branches. They are densely covered with chocolate-brown velvety hairs. The young fruits are an attractive magenta or lilac-purple colour and mature to the typical brown later in the summer. It is restricted in the wild to South Africa's Western Cape Province.