Gymnosporia capitata (e.Mey. ex Sond.) Loes.

Rigid, small shrub, up to 2.5 m high, exceedingly thorny. Brachyblasts well-developed. Leaves fascicled, thick, leathery, discolorous, sessile; lamina obovate, 10-25 x 3-11 mm, apex rounded to emarginate, base cuneate, margins entire, yellowish when dry; venation obscure. Inflorescences reduced cymes, appearing as fasciculate glomerules. Flowers cream-coloured, fragrant. Sepals deltoid, ± 1.5 mm long, margins laciniate. Petals oblong, ± 2 mm long, margins subentire. Male flowers: stamens longer than staminodes in female flowers. Female flowers: ± 4 mm long; ovary 3-locular; stigma 3-branched. Fruit a 3-valved, triquetrous capsule, ± 6 mm long, with apiculate apex, smooth, yellow to bright orange-red. Seeds partially enveloped by white aril.