[2] Cola verticillata is a medium-sized tree, up to 25 m (80 ft) in height, the lower third of the trunk being devoid of branches.

[3] It has evergreen, oval, glossy leaves arranged in whorls of three or four, and panicles of starlike, cream-coloured flowers with purplish-brown striations growing in the leaf axils.

The fruits are similar in appearance to the kola nuts of Cola acuminata but are very bitter, and considered inedible.

[5] The timber of Cola verticillata is hard and white; in southern Nigeria it is used to make fetish images.

The trees are sometimes planted in villages, the nuts, which contain significant amounts of caffeine, being gathered from the wild when ripe and used to make a drink.