Euclea natalensis is a shrub or small bushy tree, 4-10 m tall, with a dense, spreading crown, or under warm and well-watered conditions, a medium-sized tree 12-18 m tall with spreading branches. It has a spread of 5-10 m. The trunk is usually straight. The bark is dark grey, thin and finely cracked. Branchlets are covered in fine rusty hairs, becoming smooth with age.

The leaves are hard and leathery, dark green and shiny above and paler underneath. The lower surface is often covered with thick, velvety red hairs, the upper surface is occasionally also covered with hairs. The leaves are variable in size, shape and hairiness, most often oval to oblong with pointed, bluntly pointed or rounded tips. The veins are prominent, particularly on the upper surface. The margins are thickened and often wavy. The new growth in spring is very decorative with pale, gold-tinged, velvety hairy foliage emerging out of the dark green crown.

Euclea natalensis is dioecious (with male and female flowers borne on separate trees). The flowers are small, bell-shaped, cream to yellow and are carried in many-flowered, branched sprays in the axils of the leaves. They have a heavy, sweet scent. The male flowers contain usually 16 stamens and a minute rudimentary ovary with 2 styles. The female flowers have no staminodes.

The fruits are rounded, fleshy berries, 7-13 mm in diameter, borne on hairy stalks. They are smooth or bristly, yellow, orange, red and black, in dense, conspicuous clusters. They are edible and attract birds.

The trees flower in winter-spring (June-October) and fruit during summer (August-March), ripening in autumn. The trees growing in Kirstenbosch do not set fruit as abundantly as trees in habitat, perhaps because the male and female specimens are planted too far apart from each other.

Euclea natalensis is divided into six subspecies: subsp. angustifolia F.White, subsp. capensis F.White, subsp. magutensis F.White, subsp. natalensis, subsp. obovata F.White and subsp. rotundifolia F.White.