Mahogany

This average-sized shrub grows up to 3 feet (91.4 cm) tall and lives for decades, with the oldest known specimen being around 120 years old. It is very resistant to disease and destructive insect infestation.

It has many flexible, wonky stems covered in delicate, smooth, mahogany-coloured bark, and the wood inside is pale yellow.

The branches are short and slender with thousands of twigs that and are covered with small bunches of miniature, long, tapering, leaves with smooth edges. The leaves themselves are either lilac or grey, with copper splotches, frail and sticky.

In mid-summer it produces copious amounts of large, purple blossoms with teardrop-shaped shaped petals. They are sturdy and have a faint scent that smells like cigarette smoke.

In midwinter long, tapering fruits ripen. The smooth caramel skin is thick and sweet and spicy, and the slightly crunchy violet flesh is bland and powdery. The black seeds are large and are bunched at the bottom of the fruit.