Dioecious multi-stemmed shrub or single stemmed tree; in coastal thickets up to 2.5m, coastal forests up to 6m. Leaves leathery, oval, paler green below and slightly darker above with rolled under margins with characteristic reddish leaf stalks; small creamy-white flowers, glabrous, deeply cleft, in drooping spikes up to 4cm long, sweetly scented. Fruits thinly-fleshed maturing to black.

Latin: racemus = a bunch or cluster of grapes; referring to the fruits of this species.