Meliaceae - Mahogany family
SA Tree no 301
This riverine tree is found along the larger permanent streams and rivers occurring at medium to low altitudes, in woodland, in riverine forest and in coastal forest. It grows to a height of 8 - 20 m, with very dense foliage.
It has dense, deep green, glossy foliage, with virtually no visible branching. This is a sturdy, single-trunked, low-branching tree with a rounded canopy. The bark is dark grey to brown, ranging from smooth to rather rough.
Links with animals - Baboon, monkey and nyala eat the fruit, and seeds are eaten by crowned, grey and trumpeter hornbills. Fish such as babel eat seeds that fall into the water. Kudu and giraffe eat the young leaf shoots. The larvae of several species of butterfly feed on this tree.
Human uses - The wood is used to make furniture, fish-floats, dugout canoes and musical instruments. It is also used to make some of the carvings that are sold along the roads of the Lowveld. The wood should be treated against borer attack. The bark is used for medicinal purposes. Oil is extracted from the seeds, and used for medicinal purposes. (??which are poisonous.??)
Gardening - This dense, evergreen, ornamental tree provides dense shade in a garden. It will grow best in fertile soils, and is not frost-or drought-resistant. It can be grown easily from seed (which must be planted while fresh) or cuttings, and will grow fast when well watered.
Leaves - Compound, alternate, with 4 to 5 pairs of opposite to sub-opposite leaflets, plus a single leaflet at the tip, elliptic to oblong elliptic, with a smooth margin. The large leaves are a dark, glossy green above, while the lower surface is covered with dense, short, curly hairs; apex rounded, notched; base broadly tapering to rounded; margin entire, often widely rolled under; petiolules short and thickset, petiole 70 to 120 m long and are velvety. The separate leaves can be seen individually from a distance of about 30 metres. The end pairs of leaflets come off the leaf- stem at an angle, resulting in them overlapping at the edges. The leaflets closest to the leaf-stem are smaller than those at the end. (Leaf: 450 mm; 3 - 5 pairs of leaflets; 1 terminal leaflet: 160 x 55 mm)
Flowers - Small, creamy-green, sweet-scented, trumpet-shaped flowers; petals about 16 mm long; produced in short, compact, branched, axillary heads, about 50 mm long, not conspicuous, they appear in dense sprays at the ends of the branches, from August to October. (16 mm)
Fruit - Grey-green in colour, berry-like, boxed fruit are carried in bunches. They split into 2 to 3 valves; with a distinct neck, or stripe, connection the base of the capsule to the stalk. When they ripen, during January and February, the fruit bursts open to expose red seeds (which are poisonous). (45 x 30 mm)
Best places to see the Natal Mahogany in Southern Africa:
The Natal Mahogany is found in the Kruger National Park in the Sabie Crocodile Thorn Thickets, Knob Thorn / Marula Savannah, Riverine Communities & Olifants Rugged Veld 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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