Cola greenwayi is a small to medium-sized evergreen tree growing to around 20 m (66 ft), either monoecious or dioecious.

The leaves are alternate, purplish-brown when young and dark green and leathery when older, up to 15 by 5 cm (6 by 2 in).

The four to five carpels turn yellowish-orange when ripe, making a sub-globose fruit, hairy at first, and later with a thin, brittle rind.

[1][4] This tree is native to southeastern Africa, its range extending from Kenya and Tanzania southwards to Zimbabwe and Mozambique,[1] Transvaal and eastern KwaZulu-Natal.

Its habitat is dense forest, often on steep slopes, from sea level up to about 1,100 m (3,600 ft).