Carissa bispinosa small leaves

The evergreen, pointed leaves of Carissa bispinosa, this plant previously known as C. haematocarpa, have entire, hard margins. Sometimes hairy, the leaves tend to be shiny. There may be a bristle-tip present on the leaf.

The petiole becomes up to 3 mm long. The leaves are opposite and have no stipules, or the spines take their place. After some botanical consolidation of the Carissa genus, only four species are upheld in South Africa for the genus (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Coates Palgrave, 2002; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).