Shrub or tree. BARK whitish with fissures exposing a rough, dark-coloured bark; young branchlets grey with plum-coloured underlayer. LEAVES small, spirally arranged or clustered on dwarf shoots; oblong; both surfaces olive-green; petiole very short. FLOWERS small, green-yellow, with characteristic unpleasant, foetid odour. FRUIT round berry, 10 mm in diameter, hairy, yellow to pale brown when ripe. (from Tree Atlas of Namibia)

The subsp. foetida is itself very variable. A particularly narrow-leaved form, described as B. rautanenii, is found in the district Swakopmund and Karibib but intermediate forms occur and so it cannot be kept separate. Also in northern South West Africa the long peduncle which is so characteristic of this subspecies becomes much less distinct. (from Flora of Southern Africa / JSTOR Global plants)