Plants trees, 2-15 m tall; branches rounded. Leaves petiolate; petioles 3-10 mm long; blades (3.7-)5.5-11 cm long, (0.8)1.5-4.5(-6) cm wide, oblong to elliptic or obovate, more or less leathery, dark or greyish green, lower surfaces paler than upper, upper surfaces dark or greyish green and gloosy, margins markedly glandular-crenulate-denticulate, tops acuminate to obtuse. Cymes 1-2.3 cm long; peduncles 6-12 mm long. Flowers numerous, pedicellate, 2-3 mm in diameter; pedicels up to 2 mm long; sepals 0.5-0.7 mm long broadly ovate to semi-circulate, rounded, ciliate-fimbriate; petals 1-1.5 mm long, elliptic-oblong, with pale ciliate margins; stamens shorter than the petals; nectrary disks 1-1.5 mm in diamter; ovaries broadly ovoid; styles slender, stigmas small. Casules red, 0.6-1 cm long. narrowly oblong-trigonous, pendulous; seeds about 3 mm long, with narrow wings 2-2.5 times longer than wide.
Catha edulis (also known as Khat, qat,or qaad) is cultivated at intermediate elevations in regions N1 and N2 of the Flora of Somalia and in Yemen and southwestern Saudi Arabia. It is native in eastern tropical Africa from Ethiopia to South Africa. The leaves are chewed fresh as a stimulant ad are imported in large quantities from Ethiopia and Kenya in both Somaliland and Somalia. The WHO ranked several 20 popular recreational drugs and substances in terms of their risks of creating dependence, physical harm, and social harm. Khat ranked 17th in terms of the likelihood of becoming depended but 20th in terms of both the physical and social harm it causes.