Ficus retusa is a rapidly growing, rounded, broad-headed, evergreen shrub or tree that can reach 10 metres in height with an equal spread. The smooth, light grey trunk is quite striking, can grow to around 1 metre in diameter, and it firmly supports the massively spreading canopy.
The tree has glabrous obovate leaves, usually longer than 10 centimetres and spirally arranged. It has a grey to reddish bark dotted with small, horizontal flecks, called lenticels, that are used by woody plant species for a supplementary gas exchange through the bark.
