About Psydrax dicoccos Gaertn.
Psydrax dicoccos Gaertn. is commonly known as Ceylon box wood or malakafe. This plant is an unarmed, smooth shrub that reaches 3 to 4 metres (9.8 to 13.1 ft) or more in height. Its leaves are extremely variable in shape: they can be ovate, elliptic, or somewhat rounded, and measure 5 to 15 centimeters long by 1.5 to 10 centimeters wide. The leaves are leathery, shining on their upper surface, and usually pointed at both ends. The plant produces white flowers that are 5 to 10 millimeters long, have very slender stalks, and grow in compressed, short-stalked cymes. The calyx is either cut off straight at the end or has obscure teeth. The corolla is bell-shaped, with a 4- to 6-millimeter tube and five somewhat pointed lobes. Its fruit is rounded, ellipsoid, or obovoid, 6 to 10 millimeters long, slightly flattened, and has an obscure two-lobed structure.
