Capparis canescens Banks ex Dc.

Shrub or tree, erect, to 5 m high, hairy. Spines straight, spreading, 6–10 mm long, reduced or absent on flowering branches. Leaves broadly elliptic or obovate, obtuse, acute or mucronate, 4.5–10 cm long, 2.5–6 cm wide, mostly glabrous; base acute to wedge-shaped; midrib flat; 4–7 pairs of veins; petiole 1–4 cm long. Inflorescence solitary or in collateral pairs in axils of uppermost leaves; pedicels 3–10 cm long. Buds prominently quadrangular. Sepals 16–23 mm long, outer pair hairy, inner pair glabrous. Petals c. 3 cm long, 2 cm wide, glabrous or woolly at base, white or pink. Stamens 85–160. Gynophore 6.5–8 cm long, glabrous; ovary elliptic, 4–6 mm long; placentas 4 or 5. Fruit globose, 2.5–7.5 cm wide, surface various. Seeds several; axis through attachment 7–9 mm long.

A tropical plant. It is sensitive to cold. In north Queensland it grows from sea level to 840 m altitude. It grows on open woodlands and on a range of soils.

The almost ripe fruit are picked and then buried for a day to ripen. This makes them more sweet.

Plants can be grown from fresh seed.