AMATUNGULU (CARISSA MACROCARPA)

My first acquaintance with Amatungulu trees (the Zulu name for what is commonly known as the Natal plum, big num-num or by the Afrikaans name, grootnoem-noem) when I was a young child visiting my grandparents on the South Coast of South Africa. It is a common and fairly conspicuous species in coastal bush and sand dunes – especially when the fruit is ripe.

Those fleshy red fruits of the Carissa macrocarpa are a delicious mixture of sweet and sour and are, apparently, packed with vitamin C, calcium, magnesium and phosphorous. I loved them after my first taste and have made a beeline for them ever since – much to the horror or some of my family members who lack confidence in the fruits of the wild.

I have since discovered that, apart from growing along the coast of KwaZulu-Natal, these trees also thrive along the coast of Pondoland to the south and into Mozambique in the north. A hedge of them grew in the carpark of the school I taught at for many years and I loved picking a fruit to eat every morning during the fruiting season.

The thorns on this plant are Y- shaped, the young branches are green and all parts of the plant exude a white, milky latex which is harmless.

The hairless leaves are leathery: glossy dark green above and paler below with the tips ending a thorn-like point. These trees are sometimes used for nesting sites.

The flowers are white, sometimes tinged with pink and are lightly scented. They are attractive to insects, butterflies and insect eating birds.