Originating in India and Sri Lanka, this landscape tree grows moderately slowly to between 10 and 18 m (30 and 60 ft) tall.
The leaves are lance-shaped with wavy margins and either bronze, lime green or dark green, depending on their age. They remain on the tree in all seasons and in a dense arrangement that almost completely cloaks the trunk in lush greenery, from near the bottom to the top of the tree.
For a brief period in spring, masses of pale yellow-green star-shaped flowers bloom amid the leaves. These are followed by green coffee-berry-like fruit with a single seed, ripening to dark purple or near black from summer to autumn.
The narrowly shaped weeping variety, var. pendula, is widely cultivated as a street tree in India, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia for its compact form and lush green foliage. When closely spaced, it forms a tall hedge useful for privacy screening, shade or as a windbreak.
Grows naturally in sub-humid to humid subtropical and tropical climates, generally frost-free areas with annual lows of 16 to 25 °C, annual highs of 25 to 36 °C, annual rainfall of 800 to 3800 mm and a dry season of 8 months or less, extending to 12 months with irrigation or groundwater.
