Cunonia capensis leaflets have cream lateral veins ascending from the midrib, much fainter than the midrib itself. They are not quite straight and not quite visibly reaching the margins. The leaflet midribs in picture are cream on the upper blade surfaces, sometimes red in the lower parts, particularly on the lower surfaces; the leaf rachis wine-red.

The dark green blades are leathery and shiny. The marginal toothing is shallow, angled forward, more spaced near the base and about absent right at the tip (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Leistner, (Ed.), 2000).