This tree is famous in South Africa for being used to make Van Riebeeck's Hedge, the first formal boundary marker between the new Cape colony and the indigenous people of the Cape.

Wild almond trees are confined to the fynbos biome and can most often be found growing near streams on the lower slopes and in sheltered valleys from Gifberg near Clanwilliam to the Hottentots Holland to Klein Rivier Mountans and from the Cape Peninsula to the Riviersonderend Mountains to Riversdale. On the Cape Peninsula, they are abundant on the eastern side of Table Mountain and there are many growing beside the streams that pass through Kirstenbosch.

The bitter almond is relatively fast growing, particularly in well-composted, well-watered soil and is definitely not suitable for the small garden. It has a tendency to spread sideways and is suitable for hedging and screening.

If correctly pruned, it can form a well-shaped tree. It is best not to remove the lower shoots or to stake the main stem as it is easily broken by wind if it gets top heavy. Wherever side branches are cut, thick branches will grow from below the cut, so it is readily shaped into a good screen or hedge.

The leaves are dark green, hard and leathery to the touch, long and lance-shaped, irregularly and sharply toothed, with a prominent midrib. They are arranged in whorls of six at intervals along the stems, radiating out like a star around the branch. Young growth is soft and golden as it is densely covered with rusty-brown hairs.

The leaves and stems of many plants are disfigured by knobs. These are domatia (little houses) caused by symbiotic mites. They do not do any damage to the plants, but are rather unsightly and affected branches can be cut off if they offend.

The inflorescence is an approx. 8 cm long dense raceme of small (each about 5 mm long), white and sweetly scented flowers. Flowering time is mid summer (December-January).