A dense crown tops the trunk of a Nuxia oppositifolia tree at heights ranging from 2 m to 5 m (SA Tree List No. 635). The stem is grey to reddish brown and smooth or longitudinally fissured as in the photo. Old stems may be gnarled and fluted, the bark peeling in narrow strips. The young branchlets are long, thin and drooping, slightly angular.

The tree produces small white flowers in terminal and axillary clusters near stem tips from midspring through summer. A small dark capsule of 3 mm long follows, barely protruding above the persistent calyx, seen on the trees up to the end of autumn.

The wood is reddish yellow to pale brown, hard, heavy and closely grained, but seldom used (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Pooley, 1993).