C. macrocarpa deals well with salt-laden winds, making it a good choice for coastal areas.

[4] It produces shiny, deep green leaves and snowy white flowers whose perfumed scent intensifies at night.

The ornamental plump, round, crimson fruit appears in summer and fall (autumn) at the same time as the blooms.

[6] The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at University of California, Davis rates the plant as mildly toxic.

It can be found on sand dunes and on the edges of coastal forests in the Eastern Cape and northwards to Natal and Mozambique.

The species also occurs in Zambia and Zimbabwe and further north in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya.

After the young branchlets have built a callus, in approximately two months, the cutting has to be removed from the parent and planted in sand under moderate shade.

[citation needed] In the homeland of Carissa macrocarpa night-flying insects pollinates the white, bisexual flowers.

[8] Narrow hedges are recommended as orchard design for Carissa macrocarpa due to its prickles.

During the harvest attention must be paid to the ripe fruits’ skin as it can be easily bruised and is highly perishable.

[8] Horticultural scientists in South Africa and the USA (Florida and California) have selected and named several Carissa types that tend to produce fruits more reliably.