Address

102 Dunmaglass Road
Glenferness, Midrand

Contact Details

Cell - 082 824 6715
Telkom - 011 465 8857

Opening Hours

Mon - Fri: 8am - 4.30pm
Sat - Sun: 9am - 4.30pm

Harpephyllum caffrum

Edible fruits used for jam and jelly, bark is medicinal and produces pink dye, timber for furniture.

Plant Type:

General Size: large

Flowering Time: spring

Flowering Colour: white

Specifications: attracts butterflies | attracts mammals | berry | birds | bonsai | evergreen | fast growing | fruit eaters | sun | waterwise

Description

This is a large, evergreen tree that grows to 15 m tall. The main stem is clean and straight, but the forest form often has supporting buttress roots. The bark is smooth when young, becoming rough, dark grey-brown with fissures as it grows older. The Zulu common name is ‘crocodile skin’ which refers to the bark. The branches are curved upwards, with leaves crowded towards the ends, forming a thick crown at the top of the tree. The whitish green flowers in summer are borne near the ends of the branches with male and female flowers on separate trees. The tasty, oval, plum-like fruits first appear green and then turn red when they ripen in autumn. They contain a single seed and are enjoyed by people, monkeys, bushbabies and birds, especially the Cape Parrot. The fruit makes a good wine and jelly. The bark is a popular traditional medicine. It is used to treat acne and eczema, and is usually applied in the form of facial saunas and skin washes. It is used by people with ‘bad blood’ that results in pimples on the face. Powdered burnt bark is used to treat sprains and bone fractures. Bark is also used for dyeing, and it has a mauve or pink colour. In some parts of the Eastern Cape, root decoctions are traditionally taken for paralysis thought to have been contracted from walking over an area that has been poisoned or polluted through sorcery. It is a good shade tree to have in a garden to attract birds and is the larval host to the Common Hairtail butterflies and 7 moth species. Be aware that it is frost tender on the Highveld. Fast growing from truncheons and popular bonsai subject. Plant it 4 meters from a building or a pool. The name is derived from the Greek (h)arpago=sickle : phyllon = leaf as the leaflets are sickle shaped.