The leaves of the white ironwood are trifoliolate with long, grooved stalks of up to 5 cm, while the three elliptic leaflets are without stalks. There may, rarely be four leaflets on a leaf. The leaflets are hairless, gland-dotted and lemon-scented when crushed. (The tree belongs to the Rutaceae or citrus family.) Leaf margins are entire, rolled under and conspicuously wavy. Both the apices and leaf bases taper. The leaf venation is prominent (Schmidt, et al, 2002; Coates Palgrave, 2002).