Dombeya rotundifolia in grassland

The bark of Dombeya rotundifolia is dark brown to black, rough, gnarled and deeply fissured. Small branchlets are dark brown with lines of lenticel markings along their surfaces.

The tree is erect, rounded and shapely, growing to 10 m in height. The wood is blue-grey or brown, heavy and cross-grained. It is occasionally used as a general purpose timber as it works well, but the size of available pieces is often insufficient for more than small items.

An infusion of the bark or the wood has been used in traditional medicine for intestinal disorders, headaches and problems related to childbirth (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Schmidt, et al, 2002).