The often crooked stem of Ficus glumosa branches from low down, the main stem up to 2,5 m in diameter. The pale, whitish to yellow-grey bark flakes with age, mostly remaining smooth to slightly rough. Young branchlets show conspicuous leaf scars and usually much tawny hairiness, but variably so.

F. stuhlmannii, a similar tree, has dark grey bark (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Pooley, 1993; Schmidt, et al, 2002; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997).