Spiny Jackal Berry

senensis: from Sena on the Zambezi River in Mozambique

Shrub or small tree armed with large, sharp spines. Bark grey, peeling to reveal a creamy underbark; trunks often distinctly fluted. Leaves, more or less narrowly obovate, 4-14 cm long, leathery, glossy dark green above, paler below more or less densely hairy on both surfaces; midrib sunken above, prominent below wit veining forming a distinct yellowish network; margin entire, hair-fringed when young. Flowers axillary in few-flowered clusters, creamy-white to yellowish. Fruit fleshy, ovoid to subspherical, c. 2 cm in diameter, yellow, mostly hairless cupped in the calyx, enclosing the fruit about halfway.

Locally common

DRC, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe