Maerua juncea subsp. juncea

juncea: Juncus- or rush-like

Woody climber or scrambling shrub, growing into the canopy of other trees and shrubs. Leaves alternate, grey-green, 1-3 foliolate, narrowly elliptic to ovate, rounded at the apex but with a bristle-tip. Flowers clustered near the ends of branches, white with very small petals and a hemispherical head of long, conspicuous stamens. Fruits ellipsoid with a smooth surface, green to orange when ripe. See subsp. crustata, which is only easily distinguished when in fruit, these being very rough-skinned, resembling small lemons.

Frequent

Botswana, DRC, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe.