Conkerberry

Carissa spinarum

Also known as Num-num, Bush Plum, Wild Karanda, Simple-spined Num-num

At a glance

Family

Apocynaceae (dogbane family)

Type

Spiny evergreen shrub or small scrambling tree

Parts used

Ripe fruit (traditionally eaten); root and bark used historically in folk medicine but not for casual home use

Size

6 to 15 feet (2 to 5 meters), sometimes scrambling higher through neighboring trees

Bloom

Clusters of small, fragrant, white, jasmine-like star flowers, chiefly after rains

Habitat

Dry woodlands, savanna, scrub, and riverine thickets across Africa, Arabia, South Asia, and northern Australia

Acquisition

Forage

This plant in HerbSense

Key benefits

✦

Sweet, tart wild fruit

Dense, thorny living hedge

Fragrant, pollinator-friendly flowers

Traditional folk wound care

Traditional uses

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Long before it ever reached a plant nursery tag, Carissa spinarum grew as a thorny, fruit-bearing sentinel across the dry woodlands of Africa, Arabia, South Asia, and northern Australia, where foraging communities prized its ripe, plum-like berries as a trailside snack and a base for jams and fermented drinks. In East African, Ayurvedic, and Aboriginal Australian traditions, parts of the shrub, especially the root and bark, were worked into folk preparations for coughs, fevers, aches, and wounds, though these were potent, closely guarded remedies rather than everyday teas. Its dense, viciously forked thorns also made it a favorite living fence, planted or simply left standing to pen livestock and keep intruders out of gardens and kraals. Today it survives mostly as a forager's fruit and a hedge plant, its heavier medicinal history remembered but rarely revived.

How to grow & use it

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🔒

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Pairs well with

✦Tamarind
✦Wild jujube (Ziziphus)
✦Hibiscus

Substitutes

✦Natal plum (Carissa macrocarpa)
✦Ziziphus mauritiana

Choose it when

“For a thorn-crowned hedge that guards the garden by day and hands over sweet, dark fruit by dusk.”

Did you know?

Carissa spinarum belongs to the same family, Apocynaceae, as the notorious poison-arrow shrub Acokanthera, and across parts of its range its roots were once handled with the same wary respect, wrapped in ritual and rationed by traditional healers rather than brewed as a casual tea.

Safety

Only fully ripe, soft, dark purple-black fruit should be eaten, and only when identification is certain, since the dogbane family includes toxic look-alikes. Unripe fruit and the sap are bitter and can irritate the mouth and stomach. The root and bark contain cardiac-glycoside compounds traditionally used only in small, healer-guided doses, and should be avoided during pregnancy, nursing, or with heart medication like digoxin.