It is a tree with paripinnate leaves with 6 to 10 leaflets, small pink or pale green flowers arranged in leaf axils or on old woody stems, and orange-yellow to red capsules containing shiny black seeds.

Separate male and female flowers are borne on the same plant, usually in racemes in leaf axils, sometimes on old wood, and are 40–220 mm (1.6–8.7 in) long.

The petals are pink or pale green and 12–14 mm (0.47–0.55 in) long, there are 5 stamens, and the ovary is covered with soft hairs.

The fruit is a broadly heart-shaped, orange-yellow to red capsule 15–23 mm (0.59–0.91 in) long, containing shiny black seeds.

[10] Harpullia arborea usually grows in rainforest or monsoon forest in India, Bangladesh, Borneo, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Peninsular Malaysia, Nepal, New Guinea, the Philippines, Australia, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, Vanuatu and Vietnam.