Black Forest Spike Thorn

harveyana: after William Harvey (1811-1866), botanist, collector and one of the authors of Flora Capensis.

Shrub or small tree, armed or with straight reddish spines. Leaves up to 5 × 2.5 cm, shiny bright green, paler below, spirally arranged on short lateral spur-branchlets, ovate to elliptic, hairless; margins crenate-dentate; stipules conspicuous and thread-like. Inflorescences dense, axillary, clusters usually shorter than the leaves. Flowers white. Fruit a semi-fleshy, round, somewhat 3-lobed capsule, pendulous on a long stalk, white to reddish brown or carmine when ripe.

Locally frequent

Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape, South Africa.