Red ivorywood is an evergreen to semi-decidous tree that is drought resistant but not frost resistant. The tree normally grows in dense groups with other trees, reaching 15 m in height and is very attractive to birds. It is mostly found in the northern part of South Africa in the province of Limpopo, where local people sell the fruit on the street.

The sapwood is yellow-ish with a hard and heavy heartwood. It has grey-brown bark, with light grey, corky dots on young branches. The bark is smooth on young trees but becomes cracked on older branches and stems. The leaves have a thin texture and are a blue-green colour. They have reddish leaf stalks, and in colder areas the leaves turn yellow in autumn. The venation is in a herringbone pattern.

Flowers are yellowish or greenish white, star-like in clusters, on stalks 10 mm long. They appear between September and December and are followed by sweet, yellow to brownish red fruit from January to April.

Another related tree is Berchemia bicolor (brown ivory), which also bears edible fruit but differs in leaf size and the colour of the fruit.