The forest cobra is Africa’s largest cobra species, with an average length of 1.4 to 2.2 m and a maximum recorded length of 2.7 m. Males and females grow to similar sizes, there is no sexual dimorphism in the species. Forest cobras are thick-bodied, cylindrical snakes with a tapering tail. Their head is fairly large with black and white markings on the side which look like black and white bars on the jaws. Like all cobra species, Naja melanoleuca has long cervical ribs which allow it to expand the tissue around its neck, forming a wedge-shaped hood. There are several colour phases depending on the geographic location of Naja melanoleuca: from Sierra Leone east to Kenya, and then south to Angola, they have a glossy black colour with a cream or white chin, throat and belly. In the west African savannah, the colour pattern consists of black and yellow bands with a black tail and yellow lips, throat, and chin. Within the eastern coastal plain, they are brown or blackish-brown with a cream or yellow belly. Melanistic forest cobras have also been observed. Naja melanoleuca has 19 to 21 dorsal scales, 201 to 214 ventral, 63 to 72 paired subcaudals, 1 anal plate, 7 to 8 upper labials, 1 to 2 preoculars, 2 to 3 postoculars, 8 lower labials, and variable temporal scales.