Rounded, thorny shrub up to 1m. Lateral branchlets are short and pungent. Leaves are stalkless, oblong; flowers are solitary in axils, pink or purplish or white; fruits are yellow to red and fleshy.

The fruits although astringent were eaten by the early inhabitants of the Cape and favoured by ostriches and other animals, including tortoises hence the common name Skilpadbessie or Tortoise Berry.

Latin: spina = thorn, spine, prickle; referring to the thorns on the plant.

After: Johannes von Muralt (1645-1733), Swiss surgeon and botanist, anatomist, professor of physics and mathematics at Zurich Collegium Carolinum.