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Carissa (aboriginal name). Apocynaceae. Very branchy spinose shrubs of the tropics of the eastern hemisphere, cultivated for ornament or hedges, but here mainly for the edible berry-like fruits.
Carissa (aboriginal name). Apocynaceae. Very branchy spinose shrubs of the tropics of the eastern hemisphere, cultivated for ornament or hedges, but here mainly for the edible berry-like fruits.
Flowers white, solitary or in cymes; lobes of calyx and corolla 5, the 5 stamens free and included in the throat, the ovary 2-loculed: lvs. opposite and thick, simple.—About 30 species. Used abroad as greenhouse plants but grown in this country only in S. Fla., and Calif. Prop, by seeds and cuttings of ripe wood.
Flowers white, solitary or in cymes; lobes of calyx and corolla 5, the 5 stamens free and included in the throat, the ovary 2-loculed: lvs. opposite and thick, simple.—About 30 species. Used abroad as greenhouse plants but grown in this country only in S. Fla., and Calif. Prop, by seeds and cuttings of ripe wood.
C. edulis, Vahl. A straggling shrub with small purple edible fr. from Trop. Afr. Intro, from Abyssinia, but has not yet been thoroughly tested. The plant in the American trade under this name is described as much taller than C. Carandas and more vigorous: lvs. persistent, ovate-acuminate: fls. 10-25 in axillary clusters, white and pink, jasmine-scented: berries oval, red but turning black at maturity, 1-seeded. — C. ovata, R. Br., from Austral., a more open shrub than any of the preceding, the small frs. of which are edible and used for jams, has been intro. by the Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction as a possible stock for the more tender species, in the hope of extending the range of these frs.— C. spindrum, DC., a small edible-fruited evergreen shrub from India is said to be an important element in reforestation since it persists on the poorest and rockiest soils in spite of being greedily eaten by sheep and goats. S.C. Stuntz.
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