| Carissa spinarum | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Gentianales |
| Family: | Apocynaceae |
| Genus: | Carissa |
| Species: | C. spinarum
|
| Binomial name | |
| Carissa spinarum | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Numerous, see text | |
Carissa spinarum, the conkerberry or bush plum, is a large shrub of the dogbane family (Apocynaceae), widely distributed in tropical regions of Africa, Southern Asia, Australia, and various islands of the Indian Ocean.[2] It is most well known in Australia, where it is also called currant bush or, more ambiguously, native currant or even black currant. It is, however, neither closely related to plums (Prunus) nor to true currants (Ribes), which belong to entirely different lineages of eudicots. In India, it is also called wild karanda/wild karavanda, referring to the related karanda (C. carandas). Carissa spinarum is often discussed under its many obsolete synonyms (see below).
It grows as a multi-stemmed shrub, 0.5 to 3 metres in height. The leaves are glossy green, opposite, narrow ovate to lanceolate and 1–5 cm in length. The branches bear thorns of 1–3 cm length. White, star-shaped flowers ~1 cm across are followed by ovate green berries, 1–2 cm in length, which turn black or dark purple when ripe.
- ^ Plummer, J. (2020). "Carissa spinarum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T68112038A68112072. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
- ^ "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew". apps.kew.org. Retrieved 7 August 2017.