Photo by Luiz Puodzius on iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0
FruitSeason: December – April
Num-num (Natal plum)
Carissa macrocarpa
This one has a dangerous look-alike
Dune poison-bush (Acokanthera oblongifolia) grows in the same coastal bush from the Eastern Cape to KwaZulu-Natal, belongs to the same family, has sweet-scented white flowers, and bears red fruit that ripens to purple-black — and every part of it, the fruit included, is poisonous to the heart. It has no forked thorns. No Y-shaped thorns, no picking.
- When
- Typically December – April — December, January, February, March, April. Earlier in warm, low country; later in the hills.
- Where it grows
- Coastal bush, coastal forest and dunes from Humansdorp in the Eastern Cape north through KwaZulu-Natal to Mozambique; planted widely as a spiny, salt-proof hedge.
- How to know it
- A dense, evergreen shrub with glossy, leathery, dark green leaves in opposite pairs, sharp forked (Y-shaped) thorns, and white milky sap from any broken leaf or twig. Flowers are white five-petalled stars, scented most strongly at night. The fruit is a large, oval, glossy red berry with soft red flesh; flowers and fruit are often on the bush together.
- Harvest and use
- Eat ripe, deep-red fruit raw, or cook it into jam or jelly. It is rich in vitamin C. Pick only fruit that is fully red and gives slightly; the ripe skin bruises easily.
- Caution
- Check for the forked thorns on every bush before you pick, and eat only the red fruit — not the leaves, stems or sap.
Num-num (Natal plum) at a glance
- Also called
- Natal plum, big num-num, amathungulu (isiZulu)
- Family
- Apocynaceae (the dogbane and oleander family — full of poisonous plants, which is why the thorns matter)
- Where it grows
- South Africa's east coast and southern Mozambique: coastal bush, coastal forest and sand dunes from Humansdorp in the Eastern Cape north through KwaZulu-Natal to Mozambique. Widely planted elsewhere as a salt-tolerant hedge.
- When to pick
- Flowers from spring to midsummer, and the main crop ripens in summer, often with flowers and fruit on the bush at the same time; near the coast some fruit can be found through much of the year. Pick each fruit when fully red.
- Parts used
- The ripe fruit, raw or as jam and jelly. Not the leaves, stems or sap.
- Is any of it poisonous?
- SANBI describes the white milky latex as non-toxic, though the University of California rates the plant as mildly toxic. Eat only the ripe fruit.
- More look-alikes to know
- Bushman's poison (Acokanthera oppositifolia) is another spineless, poisonous relative. The forked spines are the num-num's signature.
Questions people ask about num-num
Is num-num fruit edible?
Yes. The large, oval red fruit of Carissa macrocarpa is edible raw and makes good jam and jelly; it is rich in vitamin C, magnesium and phosphorus. Eat only the ripe fruit.
What looks like a num-num but is poisonous?
The dune poison-bush, Acokanthera oblongifolia. It grows in the same coastal bush from the Eastern Cape to KwaZulu-Natal, belongs to the same family, has scented white flowers and red fruit that ripens purple-black, and every part, fruit included, contains cardiac glycosides that slow the heart. It has no spines; a num-num has forked, Y-shaped thorns.
When are num-nums ripe?
Mainly in summer, but the bush flowers and fruits over a long season and near the coast may carry some fruit through much of the year. Ripe fruit is deep glossy red and slightly soft.
Is the white sap of num-num poisonous?
SANBI describes it as non-toxic. But milky sap is shared with poisonous relatives such as Acokanthera, so it proves nothing either way; the forked thorns are the test.
Found in these regions
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Also ready in October
FruitOctober – FebruaryBaobab (fruit and leaves)
Adansonia digitata
A vast, swollen grey trunk with smooth, folded bark and stubby branches that look like roots, bare of leaves for most of the dry season. The leaves are hand-shaped, with five to seven finger-like leaflets. The fruit is a velvety, egg- to sausage-shaped pod up to 25 cm (10 in) long on a long hanging stalk: a hard woody shell around chalky, off-white pulp and black kidney-shaped seeds.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Cliff Tyllick · CC BY 4.0
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Aponogeton distachyos
Long-stalked, narrow-oval leaves floating flat on the water, and above them forked white flower spikes shaped like a 'Y', each branch lined with white petal-like bracts and dark purple-brown stamens, sweetly scented. The plant dies back as the pools dry in summer and regrows with the autumn rain.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Gabriel Campbell-Martinez · CC BY 4.0
Has a dangerous look-alikeGreenMay – OctoberAmaranth greens (morogo, mchicha)
Amaranthus spp.
Upright or sprawling herbs, often with reddish stems, carrying alternate, oval to diamond-shaped, smooth-edged leaves on long stalks, and dense, bristly spikes of tiny green or reddish flowers at the top and in the leaf joints. No milky sap, no berries, no trumpet flowers. Spiny amaranth has a pair of sharp spines at each leaf base.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Kevin Faccenda · CC BY 4.0
Checked against these sources ·
- SANBI PlantZAfrica — Carissa macrocarpa
- SANBI PlantZAfrica — Acokanthera oblongifolia
- Wikipedia — Carissa macrocarpa
Seasons are typical for the middle of the range and move by weeks north and south, and up and down hills.
Educational information only. Never eat a wild plant or mushroom identified from a single photograph or description — confirm with a regional field guide or an experienced forager, and know the poisonous species in your area first.