The Carissa edulis, known also by its Kikuyu name Mukawa, is a 5-metre shrub with a milky sap. Although short and slow-growing, these trees can be easily established from seeds. They are common on the edges of Kenya’s vast forests, and especially at the bottom of valleys. In these areas, a piece of the root is fixed into a hut roof as a snake repellant. The flowers and fruits of the Mukawa can be used for food, and are commonly enjoyed by adults and children. Alternatively, this tree has rich medicinal properties across Africa, and many claim that the roots could treat cancer. In Guinea, the boiled leaves are used to relieve toothache. In Ghana, root scrapings are used for glandular inflammation. Some populations may utilize different parts of the roots to treat chest pains, malaria, or even to cause abortions.

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If you come across a bird's nest in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. You shall let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long.

Deuteronomy 22:6-7