Gymnosporia mossambicensis

Gymnosporia mossambicensis, is a multi-stemmed, straggly shrub reaching heights of 2 m to 4 m (SA Tree List No. 399.2).

Its flowers are small, white or pink, growing from leaf axils. They appear from mid-spring to early autumn. The fruit is a (variable) three-lobed capsule that starts off pale, turning brown and red as it ripens, hanging from a long stalk. The seeds are covered by orange-red arils.

It occurs from the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo Lowveld to Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Tanzania.

The habitat is dense, riverine forest, the margins of evergreen forests and their understoreys. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century.

This shrub resembles G. harveyana that grows bigger and has thread-like leaf stipules and shorter inflorescences (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Pooley, 1993; http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw; http://redlist.sanbi.org).