Vepris lanceolata (Lam.) G.Don

Evergreen shrub 2–5 m. high; branches usually glabrous.. Leaves alternate, trifoliolate; petiole 1–6.5 cm. long, longitudinally grooved above; leaflets sessile, narrowly elliptic, 5–12 cm. long, 1.5–3.3 cm. wide, acute or obtuse at the apex, entire to slightly undulate, densely dotted with minute pellucid glands.. Inflorescence of much branched terminal panicles; bracts minute, glabrous or slightly puberulous, caducous; pedicels 1–3(–7) mm. long.. Sepals 4, united at the base, ± 0.5 mm. long.. Petals 4, obovate or elliptic, 1–2 mm. long, 0.7–1 mm. wide.. Male flower: stamens 7–8; filaments shorter than the petals.. Female flower with a 4-locular subglobose ovary; stigma subsessile and broadly discoid; vestigial staminodes 7–8.. Fruit 4–6 mm. in diameter, 4-lobed (occasionally 2–3-lobed by abortion), somewhat depressed, green but turning black when ripe, glandular punctate; locules 1-seeded.. Seeds subtrigonal, 2–3 mm. long, black; testa hard and with a white subapical hilum.

Found in a wide range of habitats including coastal evergreen thicket; along beaches on loose sandy soil, dunes, usually at elevations from sea level to 100 metres, but up to 1,400 metres in S. Africa.

It is used as a substitute for cubebs.

Can be grown by seedlings.