Evergreen shrub, hermaphrodite, up to 4 m in height, but usually not exceeding 2 m, very ramose and spiny, with intricate flexuous branching. Stems and main branches often tortuous. Bark greyish-brown, smooth, ashen and highly fissured. Young branchlets greenish-grey, glabrous. Leaves and flowers are often born in the same fascicle on the wood of old stems and branches. Leaves persistent (10-40 \u00d7 2-7(10) mm), spatulate to obovate-oblong, obtuse, attenuate at the base, crenate margin, sometimes with small spines on the teeth, rarely subentire, subcoriaceous or coriaceous, glabrous, green or glaucous, alternate on branchlets or grouped in short fascicles, with short, green or red petiole. Inflorescences in axillary cymes, shortly pedunculate, with 3-12 flowers. Flowers pentamerous, greenish-whitish, with very short pedicels (1.5-6 mm) and petals opened in star-shape, flattened (3-6 mm diameter). Calyx lobes about 2 mm, ovate, obtuse, greenish with scarious margin. Corolla petals 2-3 mm, oblong, emarginate, white. Stamens half the length of the petals, opened in star-shape, born on a green 5-lobed nectariferous disc. Fruit a capsule, non-fleshy, 3-5 mm, bilocular or unilocular through abortion, subglobose and acuminate, with 2-seeded locules not well differentiated. The capsule is first green, then red and finally blackish, dehiscent in 2 valves. Seeds ovoid-flattened, 3-4 mm, red-brown, shiny, with a cupuliform aryl with an irregular margin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-12132","species","type-species","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n