A medium-sized deciduous tree (up to 12 m). It grows along riverbanks, often leaning over at crazy angles as a result of flooding. It is found over most of KwaZulu-Natal, the former Transvaal and the Eastern Cape. The new spring leaves are a delicate pale green, often tinged with cream, darkening to a fresh green when mature. In April the leaves start to turn yellow, then red (the specific name "erythrophyllum" means red leaves). Trees are leafless for about 3 months. The inconspicuous cream or pale yellow flowers are carried in dense spherical spikes about 10 mm in diameter and appear just after the new leaves. The fruit (which is poisonous and can cause violent hiccups) is a samara. They are used in traditional medicine as a de-worming remedy. This species is an excellent tree for gardens. It grows rapidly from seed and cuttings and gives shade after 4 years. It reaches a height and spread of between 6-9 m in gardens. It has been fairly extensively used as an avenue tree and as shade trees in parking lots (specimens have been planted in the parking area south of the Aula building on campus. It is frost hardy and drought-resistant. Seeds germinate easily and the plants are fast growing, drought and frost-resistant. This species was Tree of the Year in 1995.