It is cultivated as a garden plant in areas without extreme degrees of frost.

[1] Larger specimens develop a sturdy trunk and a rounded, spreading canopy, and can reach a height of 15 meters.

The attractive leaves grow from the end of thick branches to form rounded heads.

The species name spicata means "spike-like", and suggests the arrangement of its flowers.

[2] It occurs naturally from southern and eastern South Africa to the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia and northwards into tropical Africa.