The fruit of Myrsine africana are thinly fleshy, changing colour repeatedly. This colour change serves to assist consumers, the fruit dispersers, in assessing the stage of ripening and the time to ripeness; a common attribute of so many fruit bearing species. Sparse surface mottling and the style remains can be observed on the fruits in picture. The photo was taken in November in the Caledon Botanical Garden.

The species distribution is a broad coastal strip in the south and inland in the eastern parts of the country, as well as in Zimbabwe and further into tropical Africa. The habitat is open woodland, evergreen forest margins, often among rocks and at a wide range of elevations (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997).