Loganiaceae - Wild Elder family
SA Tree no 626
This tree is included as a representative of monkey orange treed of the wild elder family.
Features of the group: they have big, rounded, orange-like fruit with a very hard skin is characteristic. Many of the species have spines. Leaves are simple and opposite, and are not attached by an obvious twig.
Features of the tree: The conspicuous, orange-sized, round fruit is green for most of the year, becoming a bright yellow when ripe. It is a multi-stemmed shrub or short tree, growing to a height of 5 - 8 m and having a moderate density, with a heavily-branched, irregular, flattish canopy. The leaves are clustered on the ends of short, thick twigs. The bark of the younger branches and trees is pale grey with white patches, while that of the older branches is darker and rougher. Knobbly side shoots resemble spines. Occurring in open woodland, on rocky koppies, in riverine fringes and coastal forest. The bark is light grey, smooth; the branches are unarmed but frequently produce hard rigid knobby dwarf later shoots from 1 - 3 cm long, which give the impression of spines.
Links with animals - Leaves are eaten by duiker, kudu, impala, steenbok, nyala and elephant. The fruit is eaten by baboon, monkey, bushpig, nyala and eland.
Human uses - The fruit pulp is edible, but the seeds are best avoided as they are a purgative. In India a Strychnos species is used to prepare strychnine.
Gardening - This tree can be grown easily from seed and will grow fairly fast when cultivated. It is, however, sensitive to frost.
Leaves - Simple, opposite pairs arranged crosswise and borne very close to each other; elliptic with a broad wedge-formed base and a round tip, almost circular. Leathery, brittle, dark green and shiny above, and lighter and dull below. The margins are smooth. Leaves have 3 -5 veins of which two secondary veins run parallel to the margin; net-veining not conspicuous; apex tapering to attenuate; base tapering to rounded; margin entire, with or without a hair fringe; petiole 1 - 5 mm long. (10-60- x 20 -100 mm)
Flowers - Small, inconspicuous, greenish-yellow, trumpet-like flowers,( in 1 to 4 flowered clusters, with several clustered together in the axils of the leaves or on the old wood; calyx lobes short and broad )are stalkless and borne in clusters at the base of the leaves on the old wood. Flowers tend to only appear after good rains; August to December. (Diameter 6 -10 mm)
Fruit - The big, round orange-like fruit, up to 8 cm in diameter,is characteristic. It has a hard, woody shell and is blue-green when young, and yellow-brown when mature. The fruit may take a long time to ripen, and green fruit may still be present into the following flowering season. In Kruger the ripe fruit is generally too attractive to animals to last long on the trees. (40 - 100 mm)
Best places to see the Black Monkey Orange in Southern Africa:
The Black Monkey Orange is found in the Kruger National Park in the Mixed Bushwillow Woodlands, Pretoriuskop Sourveld, Malelane Mountain Bushveld & Mopane / Bushwillow Woodlands ecozones.
 Tree species of Southern Africa >> Printable Tree List <<
South African Trees >> Printable Tree List <<
The Plant Kingdom (Plantae)
Wildlife - Fauna & Flora of Southern Africa
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