The River sandpaper fig (Ficus capreifolia) is a fig shrub or small tree of the western and eastern Afrotropics. It is typically found around pans or flood plains, or along riparian fringes in tropical or subtropical savanna regions, but is absent from the tropical rainforest zone. Despite its regular scrambling habit it may attain a height of 7 to 10 m. The bark is pale and smooth, and the branches are slender. Their rough-textured, pear-shaped, yellowish green figs are up to 2 cm in diameter, and grow on short stalks from the leaf axils. The elongate leaves are rough on both surfaces.