Compilation
Carissa dinteri

Sprawling shrub 0·6–3 m. tall. Young stems glabrous or minutely papillose, stout, bright yellowish or greyish green, with rugose surface; older stems similar in colour and texture. Spines numerous and conspicuous, as stout as the subtending stem, usually furcate, rarely simple or bifurcate; axis 21–38 mm. long, branches 15–46 mm. long. Leaves thickly coriaceous, glabrous, drying greyish or yellowish green, not or scarcely discolorous; petiole 2–3 mm. long, glabrous. Lamina 1·3–5·7 x 1–3·5 cm., ovate or subcircular, with apex obtuse, often mucronate and base truncate; upper surface with midrib very slightly channelled, other veins obscure; lower surface with midrib raised, other veins obscure; margin revolute. Inflorescence (l–)many-flowered, usually condensed, subsessile. Flowers strongly scented, corolla white inside, white or pink to greenish outside. Calyx 2·5–3 mm. long, segments lanceolate-subulate, dorsally glabrous, sparsely and minutely ciliate. Corolla tube 5–9 mm. long, widened slightly in upper half, externally glabrous or puberulent, internally glabrous or sparsely pubescent in upper half, and with a ring of hairs at the mouth. Corolla lobes ovate-acuminate, c. 1/2 as long as tube, glabrous or puberulent on lower surface, glabrous above, overlapping to the left. Stamens inserted near the top of the corolla tube; anthers subsessile, 1·2–1·6 mm. long. Ovary c. 0·5 mm. long, subglobose, glabrous; style slender, glabrous; stigma at level of base of anthers or above. Fruit 1–1·3 cm. long, ovoid, red ripening black, edible, 1–2-seeded.