Smooth-twigged sourplum
The sourplum tree is a sparsely branched shrub or small tree around 2 m in height with a shapeless untidy crown. It has been known to grow to about 6 m in height. The branches are either smooth or covered with flattened hairs and armed with spines at their bases. The bark of the tree is grayish-brown to black in colour, and is longitudinally fissured. The leaves are simple, alternate, and elliptic in shape. When the tree flowers, the flowers are greenish to creamy white in colour although they have been seen to be sometimes tinged pink or red. The sourplum fruit itself is ellipsoidal in shape. The skin is smooth and starts green, and then ripens to an orange or red. Similarly the flesh is also orange or red in colour, and when ripe has a juicy pulp. The sourplum is 3.5 cm in length and 2.5 cm in diameter. The seed is smooth, ellipsoid, and yellow-brown to red in colour. The seed is hard and around 2.5 cm in length.