Mountain spike thorn

Description

Gymnosporia senegalensis is a shrub in the spruce shrub family. The species is better known as Maytenus senegalensis. It grows up to two meters high and has thorns and leathery leaves. The flowers are five-pointed, greenish-white and four to six millimeters wide. Subspecies G. senegalensis subsp. Senegalensis is widespread in semi-arid areas of sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal to South Africa. The subspecies is also found in Madagascar, southern parts of the Arabian Peninsula and in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. Subspecies G. senegalensis subsp. europaea is widespread in northern Africa and southern Spain. In Spain, it is found off the coast of the provinces of Málaga, Granada, Almería and Murcia. Here it grows in scrub vegetation together with, among other things, Rhamnus lycioides, dwarf palm and occasionally bale oak boxwood.