Nuxia congesta, commonly known as brittlewood or in Afrikaans as wildevlier, has an erect stem that branches higher up, or is crooked and multi-stemmed from the base. The main stem may reach 50 cm in diameter, tending to become fluted as it thickens.

The bark is pale grey to brown, fissured and stringy. It peels in thin longitudinal strips and becomes even rougher as the tree ages. Upper branches are grey as well, sometimes reddish brown. Young branchlets may be hairy or not and longitudinally ridged (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Schmidt, et al, 2002).