Carissa edulis Apocynaceae Vahl - World Agroforestry Centre

Carissa edulis 

LOCAL NAMES 

Afrikaans (enkeldoring-noemnoem); Amharic (agam); Arabic (emir); 

English (simple-spined carissa,simple spined num-num,Arabian numnum); 

Luganda (muyonza); Swahili (mtanda-mboo); Tigrigna (agam) 

BOTANIC DESCRIPTION 

Carissa edulis is a spiny, much branched, small tree, shrub or scrambler, 

up to 5 m in height, with a milky sap. Bark grey, smooth, young branchlets 

with or without hairs; spines simple, straight, 2-5 cm long, usually single. 

Leaves ovate to ovate-elliptic, opposite, occasionally almost circular, 2.5-6 

x 1.8-3 cm, leathery, dark green above, paler green below, with or without 

short, soft hairs; lateral veins obscure; apex tapering, often with a 

bristlelike tip; base rounded to shallowly lobed; margin entire; petiole 1-4 

mm long. 

Flowers white tinged with purple, red or pink, up to 1.8 cm long, about 2 

cm in diameter, slender, tubular, with corolla lobes overlapping to the 

right, sweetly scented, in terminal heads about 4 cm in diameter. 

Fruits ovoid to almost spherical, up to 1.1 cm in diameter, red-black, 

ripening to purplish black, containing 2-4 flat seeds. 

C. edulis closely resembles C. bispinosa, the obvious feature separating 

them being that C. edulis has straight thorns and those of C. bispinosa are 

Y-shaped. The name Carissa is probably derived from the Sanskrit 

‘corissa’, a name for one of the Indian species of the genus. The specific 

name, edulis, means edible. 

BIOLOGY 

In southern Africa, for example, flowering occurs from September to 

December and fruiting from November to January. Insects pollinate the 

bisexual flowers. Fruits are animal dispersed. 

Agroforestry Database 4.0 (Orwa et al.2009) 

Vahl 

Apocynaceae 

Carissa edulis Foliage (Bob Bailis) 

Carissa edulis, showing ripe fruits and 

foliage (Patrick Maundu) 

Carissa edulis in flower (Patrick Maundu) 

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ECOLOGY 

C. edulis is found in Arabia and reaches through tropical Africa to the Transvaal, Botswana and north and northeast 

Namibia, in warm bushveld and scrub. In the Transvaal it occurs in the lowveld of the north and northwest. In Uganda it 

is usually found on termite mounds in wooded grassland, especially in low-lying areas associated with Grewia similis and 

also in thickets in woodlands, forest edges and secondary scrub. It prefers dryish conditions. It is a tree of deciduous 

forest and coastal thickets, extending across the region from Senegal to Cameroon and throughout the drier parts of 

tropical Africa and across Asia to Indo-China. It has been reported as a parasite of henna plants in northern Nigeria. 

BIOPHYSICAL LIMITS 

Altitude: 1 000-2 000 m, Mean annual rainfall: 1000-2100 mm, mean annual temperature: 19-30 deg.C 

Soil type: Tolerates most soils including black cotton. 

DOCUMENTED SPECIES DISTRIBUTION 

Native: 

Exotic: 

Botswana, Cambodia, Cameroon, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Japan, Kenya, Myanmar, 

Namibia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, 

Vietnam, Yemen, Republic of 

Native range 

Exotic range 

The map above shows countries where the species has been planted. It does neither 

suggest that the species can be planted in every ecological zone within that country, 

nor that the species can not be planted in other countries than those depicted. Since 

some tree species are invasive, you need to follow biosafety procedures that apply to 

your planting site. 


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The map above shows countries where the species has been planted. It does neither 

suggest that the species can be planted in every ecological zone within that country, 

nor that the species can not be planted in other countries than those depicted. Since 


some tree species are invasive, you need to follow biosafety procedures that apply to 

your planting site. 


PRODUCTS 

Food: Fruits are sweet and pleasant to eat; in Ghana, they are normally added to the food of invalids as an appetizer. 

Vinegar can be made from them by fermentation; in Sudan and Kenya, they are made into a jam. The roots are put into 

water gourds to impart an agreeable taste and are added to soups and stews for the same reason. 

Fodder: Goats and camels in the dry parts of Sudan browse on C. edulis. 

Fuel: The species is a source of excellent firewood. 

Poison: In Kenya, a piece of the root is fixed into a hut roof as a snake repellent. 

Medicine: Roots contain an active ingredient, carissin, that may prove useful in the treatment of cancer. The twigs 

contain quebrachytol and cardioglycosides that are useful as an anthelmintic against tapeworm. In Guinea, the boiled 

leaves are applied as poultice to relieve toothache. Root bark is mixed with spices and used as an enema for lumbago 

and other pains in Ghana; root scrapings are used for glandular inflammation; ground-up roots are used as a remedy 

for venereal diseases, to restore virility, to treat gastric ulcers, cause abortion, and as an expectorant. An infusion of 

roots along with other medicinal plants is used for treating chest pains, and a root decoction is also used for treating 

malaria. 

SERVICES 

Ornamental: C. edulis is an attractive tree that is suitable for planting in amenity areas. 

Boundary or barrier or support: The abundant branching habit and the presence of spines make the plant suitable for 

planting as a protective hedge. 


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TREE MANAGEMENT 

The slow-growing trees respond well to pruning. 



GERMPLASM MANAGEMENT 

Seeds storage behaviour is orthodox, and their viability can be maintained for more than 12 months in dry air storage 

at 5 deg. C. There are about 28 000-30 000 seeds/kg. 


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FURTHER READNG 

Beentje HJ. 1994. Kenya trees, shrubs and lianas. National Museums of Kenya. 



Bein E. 1996. Useful trees and shrubs in Eritrea. Regional Soil Conservation Unit (RSCU), Nairobi, Kenya. 

Bekele-Tesemma A, Birnie A, Tengnas B. 1993. Useful trees and shrubs for Ethiopia. Regional Soil Conservation Unit 

(RSCU), Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA). 

Birnie A. 1997. What tree is that? A beginner's guide to 40 trees in Kenya. Jacaranda designs Ltd. 

Burkill HM. 1994. Useful plants of West Tropical Africa. Vol. 2. Families E-I. Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. 

Coates-Palgrave K. 1988. Trees of southern Africa. C.S. Struik Publishers Cape Town. 

Dale IR, Greenway PJ. 1961. Kenya trees and shrubs. Buchanan’s Kenya Estates Ltd. 

Hong TD, Linington S, Ellis RH. 1996. Seed storage behaviour: a compendium. Handbooks for Genebanks: No. 4. 

IPGRI. 

ICRAF. 1992. A selection of useful trees and shrubs for Kenya: Notes on their identification, propagation and 

management for use by farming and pastoral communities. ICRAF. 

Katende AB et al. 1995. Useful trees and shrubs for Uganda. Identification, Propagation and Management for 

Agricultural and Pastoral Communities. Regional Soil Conservation Unit (RSCU), Swedish International Development 

Authority (SIDA). 

Mbuya LP et al. 1994. Useful trees and shrubs for Tanzania: Identification, Propagation and Management for 

Agricultural and Pastoral Communities. Regional Soil Conservation Unit (RSCU), Swedish International Development 

Authority (SIDA). 

Noad T, Birnie A. 1989. Trees of Kenya. General Printers, Nairobi. 

Palmer E, Pitman N. 1972. Trees of Southern Africa Vol. 2. A.A. BalKema Cape Town. 

Venter F, Venter J-A. 1996. Making the most of Indigenous trees. Briza Publications. 

SUGGESTED CITATION 

Orwa C, Mutua A , Kindt R , Jamnadass R, Simons A. 2009. Agroforestree Database:a tree reference and selection guide 

version 4.0 (http://www.worldagroforestry.org/af/treedb/) 


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Carissa edulis Apocynaceae Vahl - World Agroforestry Centre

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