Bridelia taitensis Vatke & Pax

A straggly or spreading many-stemmed shrub or small tree 1.5–4.5 m. tall, rarely taller.. Bark grey.. Twigs pale greyish brown, lenticellate.. Young shoots and petioles evenly to sparingly pubescent.. Petioles 2–4(–5) mm. long; leaf-blades obovate, broadly elliptic or suborbicular, (2–)3–7(–10) cm. long, (1–)2–5(–7) cm. wide, somewhat retuse, truncate, rounded or obtuse, occasionally subacute at apex, cuneate or rounded-cuneate at base, chartaceous, lateral nerves (8–)10–12(–13) pairs, brochidodromous, camptodromous or craspedodromous, scarcely prominent above, fairly prominent beneath, very sparingly pubescent to subglabrous above, evenly pubescent along the midrib otherwise sparingly pubescent beneath, bluish green.. Stipules linear-lanceolate, 4–6 mm. long, acute, pubescent.. Flowers monoecious or dioecious, glomerulate.. Bracts ovate, acute, keeled, pubescent.. Male flowers: pedicels adpressed pubescent; sepals triangular-lanceolate, 2 mm. long, 1 mm. wide, glabrous except without at the base, pale yellow-green; petals flabelliform, 1 mm. long and wide; disc flat, 2 mm. across, ± entire; staminal column 1 mm. high; anthers 0.6 mm. long, cream; pistillode slightly swollen at the base, 0.75 mm. tall, bilobed at the apex.. Female flowers: pedicels stouter than in the ♂ flowers; sepals resembling those of the ♂ flowers, but thicker in texture; petals ovate-rhomboid, ± 1 mm. long; outer disc annular, inner disc divided into 5–6 triangular-ovate lobes; ovary ellipsoid, 2-locular, 3–4 mm. long; styles 2, connate, 0.5 mm. long.. Fruits subglobose-ellipsoid, 2-locular, 7–9 mm. long, 6–7 mm. wide, yellow, green, flushed red, reddish-or purplish-black, and shiny and black when dried.. Seeds 5 mm. long, smooth, shiny, chestnut-brown.

It is a tropical plant. In Kenya it grows between 440-1,200 m altitude. It is often on rocky or sandy soils.

The ripe fruit are eaten.