Avicennia officinalis is also recognized as the Indian Mangrove. The young tree is often seen with a low, dense bushy crown. It becomes a columnar tree up to 15 meters and may grow up to 30 meters upon maturing. The tree has numerous upright air-filled roots that rise above the soil from long, shallow horizontal roots.
The thin and brownish-gray bark becomes rough and blackish when the tree starts maturing. Leaves are arranged opposite each other and are obovate or broadly oblong. The upper leaf surface is shiny green and hairless and the lower surface is with fine gray-green hairs and resin dots.

The tree has many flowers- 2-12 together, stalkless, 7-10 mm long, 12-15 mm across. These flowers are bell-shaped, tubular, yellow or yellow-brown, turning orange, with 4 unequal spreading petals. There are 4 stamens inserted in notches of the corolla tube. 

The ovary is conical, hairy, imperfectly 4-celled with 4 ovules and the capsule is broadly ovoid, flattened, 2.5 cm long. It has 1 seed that is large, flattened, and without a seed coat.