Its common name is Nile tulip. It is an evergreen shrub or small tree of about 15 m in height with a narrow, irregular crown and long tap root. Its bark is light brown with fine vertical fissures and its leaves compound, often in bunches, thin and wavy, each leaflet up to 10 cm, wider at the tip, often with round outgrowths at the base.
Flower buds are yellow-green and furry, splitting down one side as the flower emerges. Flowers are bright yellow, in showy terminal clusters, each trumpet shaped, to 6 cm long, with 5 frilly lobes, the throat striped with orange-red.