Grewia bicolor var. bicolor floral stages

The yellow flowers of Grewia bicolor var. bicolor grow in clusters of two to six from leaf axils and at stem tips. They have short pedicels.

The oblong sepals are yellow on their inside surfaces, longer than the petals, spreading below the corolla. The many stamens spread in a cluster around the style that is tipped with a globular green stigma.

On withered flowers the pale, greenish cream sepals fold in around the fruit beginnings during the second and final stage of their protective duties. There is a consistent angle between flower stalks of the same cluster.

The fruit is a globular or two-lobed drupe turning yellow, reddish brown and sometimes eventually black. It becomes about 6 mm in diameter. The fruit is edible, but astringent and often parasitised.

The plant is browsed by game. A tea is made of the leaves. The bark is used as fibre for rope and medicinally, as are the roots (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Pooley, 1993; Schmidt, et al, 2002; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997; iSpot).