It is distinguished by its grey mottled bark and can grow up to 18 meters tall, primarily in low altitudes and open woodlands.

[3] The fruits, which ripen between December and March, have a light yellow skin (exocarp), with white flesh (mesocarp).

[5] The seeds have a delicate nutty flavour and are much sought-after, especially by small rodents who know to gnaw exactly where the plugs are located.

[5] The marula belongs to the same family, Anacardiaceae, as the mango, cashew, pistachio and sumac, and is closely related to the genus Poupartia from Madagascar.

Common names include jelly plum, cat thorn, morula, cider tree, marula, maroola nut/plum, and in Afrikaans, maroela.

[7] The fruit juice and pulp are mixed with water and stored in a container over 1–3 days of fermentation to make marula beer, a traditional alcoholic beverage.

[8] The alcoholic distilled beverage (morula) made from the fruit is referenced in the stories of the South African writer Herman Charles Bosman.

This harvest and sale of fruit only occur over two to three months, but is an important source of income to poor rural people, especially women.

The damaged bark, due to browsing, can be used to identify marula trees as elephants preferentially target them.

[12] In the documentary Animals Are Beautiful People by Jamie Uys, released in 1974, some scenes portray elephants, ostriches, warthogs and baboons allegedly becoming intoxicated from eating fermented marula fruit, as do reports in the popular press.