Slender, straight, East African tree ( Catha edulis ; family Celastraceae).
Reaching a height of 80 ft (25 m), the khat tree has large, oval, finely toothed, bitter-tasting leaves. Its best-known relatives are the ornamentals euonymus and bittersweet . Khat leaves are chewed for the stimulants they contain, and the drug is central to social life in some countries.