Distinguishing Features

a bushy or herbaceous plant growing up to 1.25 m tall.

its stems are rough in texture and its leaves are slightly hairy or hairless.

its small star-shaped flowers are white (often tinged with purple) and borne in small clusters in the leaf forks.

its fruit are dull green when young, turning purplish-black and remaining dull in nature as they mature.

Stems and Leaves

Stems are sparsely hairy (i.e. puberulent), or occasionally hairless (i.e. glabrous), and are rough in texture. They are green or purplish-green when young.

The alternately arranged leaves (2-13 cm long and 1-8 cm wide) are borne on stalks (i.e. petioles) 5-30 mm long. Leaf blades are oval (i.e. elliptic), elongated (i.e. lanceolate) or egg-shaped in outline (i.e. ovate) and taper to a point at the tip (i.e. acute or acuminate apex). Their margins are either entire, bluntly toothed (i.e. crenate), or slightly lobed (i.e. sinuate). They are sparsely hairy (i.e. puberulent) on both surfaces.

Flowers and Fruit

The small star-shaped flowers (7-12 mm across) are borne in several-flowered clusters in the leaf forks (i.e. axils) near the tips of the branches. These flower clusters have a main stalk (i.e. peduncle) 1-2 cm long and each flower also has its own stalk (i.e. pedicel) 7-11 mm long. The flowers have five white or purple-tinged petals (3.5-4.5 mm long), that are fused together at the base, and a yellow central cone. They also have five small greenish sepals (1.5-2.5 mm long), five yellow stamens (about 2.5 mm long), and an ovary topped with a style and stigma. Flowering occurs throughout the year.

The rounded fruit (i.e. globular berries) turn from green to dull black or purplish-black in colour when mature. These fruit (5-8 mm across) are generally borne pointing downward (i.e. deflexed) with sepals that generally point outwards. They contain numerous small seeds (about 1.5 mm long by 1 mm wide).