Grewia monticola flower

Grewia monticola, sometimes called the donkey berry, is a shrub or attractive small tree. Its leaves have striking green upper surfaces and greyish to white lower surfaces. The striking difference between the upper and lower leaf surfaces is also found in G. bicolor, a species with partly overlapping geographical distribution in the east of southern Africa.

The pale yellow flowers are about 2 cm in diameter, growing in axillary clusters of up to three flowers. The round or bilobed fruit is about the size of a pea; it turns from yellow to red when ripe.

The donkey berry grows in South Africas northeastern provinces and further north in at least Zambia and Mozambique (Coates Palgrave, 2002; iSpot; http://redlist.sanbi.org).