Botany: A small tree; branches very stout, woody, cylindric; buds resinous. 

• Leaves: 10-20 X 2.5-5.0 cm, pale yellow brown when dry, midrib very stout, nerves 16-22 pairs; petiole 0.6-1.8 cm, base semiamplexicaul.
• Flowers : Peduncle 5.0-12.5 cm, bracts nil. Calyx hemispheric, very thick, lobes semi circular. Flowers scarcely fragrant. Corolla white, tube 1.8-2.5 cm, yellow, cylindric, swollen at the very base, limb white, 5-7.5 cm diameter, lobes broadly oblong, falcate, obtuse. Anthers half way down the tube. Follicles usually solitary, 10-12.5 X 2.5-5.0 cm, recurved, oblong, narrowed at both ends, dorsally concave, ventrally 2-ribbed, orange yellow.
•  Seeds :  1.8 cm long, buried in scarlet pulp.

Properties: Anti-inflammatory, opthalmic, antidiarhhoeal, vermicide

Chemical constituents:  tabernamine, 16,22-dihydro-16-hydroxyapparicine, dichomine, vallesamine, voacamine

Uses: Root juice for eye infections. crushed bark and leaves used as antiseptic on wounds and for treating ulcers and fistula. 

Propagation: Cuttings