Currant bush
Carissa ovata, Fam. Apocynaceae
Spreading to erect, much branched shrub up to 2m tall, or sometimes a scrambling climber, with milky sap. A spine arises from each side of the stem between some leaf bases (not from the leaf axils).
| Weed Category: | |
| Weed: | No |
| Form or habit: | Vine (Climbing, Twining or groundcover), Shrub |
| Family: | Apocynaceae |
| Leaf: | Simple, opposite, entire, broadly ovate, 0.5-5.5 x 0.5-4cm. Glossy green, usually hairless but sometimes sparsely hairy. Milky latex. |
| Flower conspicuous: | Conspicuous |
| Flower colour: |
White |
| Flower description: | Compact cymes of small, white, fragrant flowers. Any month of the year. |
| Fruit conspicuous: | Conspicuous |
| Fruit colour: |
Black, Purple |
| Fruit: | |
| Fruit description: | Purple black, ovoid berries, 1-1.5cm long. Usually one seeded. Any month. |
| Habitat: | Littoral rainforest, open forest, rainforest, vine thicket. |
| Distribution | Queensland, New South Wales. |
| Food source for: | Fruit eaten by the satin, spotted and regent bowerbirds. Larval food plant of the common crow butterfly and the moths |
| Toxicity: | No toxicity known |
| Origin: | Australia. |
| Notes: | Ripe fruit is edible and palatable. Grow from fresh seed or cuttings, remove flesh from seed prior to sewing. Slow growing but long lived and hardy in most situations. |
| Information sources: | Melzer R. & Plumb J. (2007) Plants of Capricornia. |
