Carissa edulis fruit and leaves

Midsummer Carissa edulis leaves and fruit growing in the Pretoria National Botanical Garden are displayed here. The opposite, short-stalked leaves are borne erectly on the pale upper branches; their creamy midribs conspicuous in the green surfaces.

This Carissa does not bear forked spines as is common among the other South African species; a few straight and single ones can be spotted among the leaves, their tips dark.

The shiny fruit are just slightly ovoid, almost spherical. Their pale green and red colouring will have turned purplish black when announcing ripeness to hungry birds, animals (and people) that perform seed dispersal duties (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997).