Carissa spinarum fruit and leaves

These midsummer Carissa spinarum leaves and fruits appear well cared for in the Pretoria National Botanical Garden.

The opposite, short-stalked leaves are borne erectly on the pale upper branches. Their creamy midribs are conspicuous in the green surfaces, the ascending lateral veins fain to invisible. The lower leaf surfaces are paler than the upper ones.

This Carissa does not bear forked spines as is common among the other South African species. A few straight 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. The fruits are seen from late spring to after midsummer (Pooley, et al, 2025; Coates Palgrave, 2002; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997; iNaturalist).