| Type | Indigenous |
|---|---|
| Family | Flacourtiaceae |
| Synonym | Casearia thwaitesii Briq. |
| Synonym_2 | Casearia coriacea Thw. |
| Habit | Small sized tree |
| Botanical Features | Tress, to 8 m tall; bark greyish-brown, smooth, lenticellate. Leaves simple, alternate, distichous; stipules small, scale-like, lateral, cauducous; petiole up to 15 mm, slender, glabrous, grooved above, reddish; blade 7-14 x 4-6 cm, oblong, base round, obliquely obtuse or truncate, apex acute or acuminate, margin entire, glabrous, coriaceous, pellucid gland-dotted; lateral nerves 10-12 pairs, pinnate, prominent, intercostae scalariform, reddish. Flowers bisexual, greenish-yellow, 5 mm across, 2-6 together in axillary fascicles; pedicel 3.5 mm long, tomentose; calyx 5-lobed, lobes 2 x 1.5 mm, ovate, obtuse, tomentose outside, ciliate; petals absent; stamens 10, filaments 1 mm long, triangular sparsely hairy at base, alternating with as many staminodes tufted at their apex, forming a ring attached below to the calyx tube; ovary 2 x 2 mm, globular, ovules 9; stigma hardly wider than style. Fruit a succulent capsule, 15 x 8 mm, orange-yellow, ellipsoidal, smooth, narrowly 3 furrowed, glabrous. |