Common name: Kei-apple
Dovyalis caffra (Hook.f. & Harv.) Warb. APNI* Synonyms: Aberia caffra Hook.f. & Harv. APNI*
Description: Tree to 6 m high, mostly dioecious, spines to 6 cm long.
Leaves alternate on young shoots, clustered on short lateral shoots on older branches; lamina elliptic to obovate or broad-obovate, 2–5 cm long, 1–3 cm wide, entire, glabrous, often with 3 or more veins arising from near base; petiole 2–5 mm long.
Flowers small and inconspicuous.
Berry depressed-globose, 20–40 mm diam., yellow to orangey yellow (apricot-coloured); pulp juicy, edible.
Distribution and occurrence: occasionally naturalised, often persisting around old habitations. Native of Africa.
NSW subdivisions: *NC, *CC
Other Australian states: *Qld *S.A.
Dovyalis was previously placed in the, now synonymised, family Flacourtiaceae.
Text by G.J. Harden, Flora of New South Wales Vol. 1: 430-432 (1990), in Flacourtiaceae
Taxon concept: Australian Plant Census (accessed May 2017)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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