Trees range 3-15 m tall with glossy thick leaves, branched flowers, and red to dark purple fruit.  Antidesma platyphyllum is a hardwood species that was used by Hawaiians for building frameworks of houses, as anvils for beating kapa fibers, and for making red dye from the fruit.  This species is found in mesic to wet forest on all main islands except Ni`ihau, Kaho`olawe, and at the uppermost elevations of Hawai`i island.