Ochna serrulata

Ochna serrulata, the carnival ochna, usually a 3 m shrub, still carries tree status on the official list (SA Tree List No. 479.1). It does reach 6 m on occasion.

The leaves are narrowly elliptic. They have many closely spaced parallel veins on their glossy green surfaces.

The fragrant yellow flowers grow singly on short spur-branchlets. They appear mainly in spring, to some extent throughout summer. The petals usually drop off early.

After the flowers the green drupelet fruit turn black as they ripen and are prettily contrasted by widely opened persistent calyx lobes that turn red. This is the view presented in picture (Coates Palgrave, 2002).