Claim: The Passerina ericoides, is native to the second most populous city in South Africa, Cape Town, and grows nasty berries that tortoises eat.
Evidence: Passerina ericoides, the Christmas berry, is a threatened species of plant in the family Thymelaeaceae, genus Passerina. It is indigenous to the coastal fynbos areas in and around the city of Cape Town, South Africa. Passerina ericoides is a shrub typically up to 1 metre high, with narrow, slightly succulent, leaves some two to three mm long, its flowers are greenish-yellow to reddish, and are subtended by leaflike bracts. Unlike most species of Passerina, the plant bears fleshy orange or red berries. They taste nasty, but are harmless and look very attractive. Tortoises eat them and presumably spread their seed in their droppings. For that reason one of the common names is "skilpadbessie" (Afrikaans for "tortoise berry", a name shared with various other plants such as Nylandtia and Chironia baccifera.)