Melicope balloui is a small tree or shrub in the rue family (Rutaceae). New growth is covered with yellowish-brown hairs and waxy scales, the hairs and scales becoming grayish and sparser with age. The generally oval-shaped leathery leaves (5 to 10 x 3 to 7 cm [2 to 3.9 x 1.2 to 2.8 in]) occur in pairs on 10 to 26 mm (0.4 to 1.0 in) leafstalks (petioles) opposite each other on the stems. The leaves have about 9 to 14 pairs of veins branching from the main vein connected by another vein near the periphery of the leaf. The leaves are slightly hairy, the underside becoming less hairy except around the main vein. Female flowers are yellowish green, tiny (petals approximately 4 mm (0.2 in) long) and are densely covered with small hairs. Flowers occur in flat clusters of 5 to 9, each on individual 5 mm (0.2 in) stalks (pedicels), grouped on 3 to 16 mm (0.1 to 0.6 in) stalks (peduncles) from the point of leaf attachment. Male flowers are not described. Petals and some other floral parts (sepals) usually persist as the fruit matures; the fruits are about 26 mm (1 in) wide, each 12 to 13 mm (0.5 in) part containing 1 or 2 7-mm (0.3-in) seeds.