Carissa bispinosa

Carissa bispinosa, commonly the num-num, is a spiny evergreen shrub, sometimes a scrambler. Occasionally it becomes a small tree of up to 5 m in height, usually less than half that (SA Tree List, 640.1). C. bispinosa is multistemmed, resprouting after fire. 

The bark on the much-branched stems is initially green, becoming partly grey and wrinkled. Forked spines are conspicuous upon the stems. The plant exudes a milky latex when the skin is damaged. This is a heterogeneous species of varied appearance.

The photo was taken near the Seweweekspoort where both C. bispinosa and C. haematocarpa used to grow, but since the documentary disappearance of C. haematocarpa into C. spinosa, the problem of distinguishing between the two is something of the past. Those who took the trouble to master the differences, take their time in adapting to the lumping. It's harder to deal with new names or additional ones when separations occur. Speciation is all about splitting, but when to agree that it should be official is always a talking point. Like the many people commenting on the differences between all the plants called C. bispinosa. Don't forget that C. wyliei has also disappeared into C. bispinosa.

Appearance differences between plants occur in continua and increase with the new adaptations for survival in more diverse ecological settings. The human decisions of separating living things into more categories, as reflected in the official nomenclature developed by them inevitably multiply the grey areas of uncertainty. And such a good thing that genetics separate siblings in looks, otherwise there would not be much point in giving them all different names.

The species distribution of C. bispinosa is widespread across South Africa, barring some western and central parts. The plants are found in the Richtersveld of the Northern Cape, the Western Cape, the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, all the provinces north of the Vaal River, as well as in several African countries. 

The habitat includes dry woodland, forest, bushveld, thicket, grassland and coastal scrub, also along forest margins and the under-storey of evergreen forests. Coping in all these places and more, gives the plants many shapes and sizes. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; Le Roux, et al, 2005; Coates Palgrave, 2002; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997; Pooley, 1993; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).