Screwpine is a small evergreen tree with conspicuous prop roots and prickly stems. The aerial roots yield a decoction that is used as a beverage in the treatment of blennorrhoea.
It is erect, branched small tree, growing 3 to 5 meters high, the trunk bearing many prop roots.
Leaves are spirally crowded toward the ends of the branches, glaucous, linear-lanceolate, slenderly long-acuminate, 3 to 5 centimeters wide, the margins and midrib beneath towards the apex, armed with sharp spiny teeth that point toward the apex of the leaf. Male inflorescence is fragrant, pendulous. Fruit is solitary, pendulous, ellipsoid to globose-ellipsoid, about 20 centimeters long, each composed of 50 to 75 or more, obovoid, angular, fibrous and fleshy drupes, long, narrow below and truncate at the apex; the stone 4- to 10-celled, slightly sulcate between the cells of the apex, becoming yellow-red to bright red-orange at maturity. The decoction of fresh or dried prop root drunk for diuretic effect. Roots used to strengthen the gums. In Ayurveda, leaves used for filarial diseases, leucorrhea, leprosy, smallpox, scabies, syphilis, and leukoderma.
*above specification are indicative only. actual dimensions may vary by +-10%