| Shape | Pyramidal in youth and oval at maturity. |
| Landscape | Full to partial sun, but performs best in full sun, moist, rich and well drained soil. It does poorly in clay, dry, lean and polluted soils. It is tolerant of briefly wet soils and handles urban stress much better than others of the same genus. It is a choice specimen to plant in urban areas as a shade tree. |
| Habitat | Horticultural origin. |
| Bark/Stem Description | The bark is light grey to brown, smooth on younger trees but as they mature they begin to form into plates that resemble tectonic plates of the earth. |
| Leaf Description | Thick, dark green, shiny, simple, alternate, ovate to obovate to elliptic, 5 - 12 cm long and 3 - 6 cm wide. |
| Flower Description | Simple or compound clusters of flowers form in mid-spring to early summer. Flowers have a 5 parted calyx, with 5 small petals, each containing 5 - 12 stamens. |
| Fruit Description | A 2 cm dark coloured, berry like drupe, either singly or in clusters of up to 3. |
| Colour Description | Glossy bright green in summer turning a vivid scarlet red in the autumn. |