page_title: Canthium inerme
section_title: Appearance
hierarchical_section_title: Canthium inerme / Appearance
caption_attribution_description: English: Fruits of a Turkey-berry (Canthium inerme - Cape Town
context_page_description: Canthium inerme is a tough, adaptable medium-sized tree from South Africa. It bears small edible fruits and has a variety of uses in traditional medicine.
context_section_description: This is a very variable species, but it generally grows as a small to medium-sized tree. Like many trees, in shady conditions it grows tall and sparse up to 14m in height, while in direct sunlight it forms a small, dense, domed tree of about 5m.
  A very distinctive feature of this species is the way it grows its thorns in opposite pairs, at perfect right angles on the branch. These thorns often become branches in their own right, similarly at striking right angles - both to the parent branch, and to the neighboring pairs of branches. 
  The leaves, also borne in opposite pairs, are small, light green and glossy, while the flowers appear in Spring as dense creamy-yellow clusters. Each tree produces both male and female flowers, but they are functionally uni-sexual.
  Another distinctive characteristic of this tree is the small, tough fruits which appear soon after flowering and stay on the tree for much of the year. They are initially smooth and green, but they soon become black and dry, and remain firmly attached in small bunches to the tree. They are relished by birds which are consequently greatly attracted by this tree, however they are also edible for humans.
  Its one or more trunks can become twisted and knotted in larger specimens, and are generally a smooth, pale grey.
caption: The typical fruits of the Turkey-berry, which blacken and stay on the tree for many months
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