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Botanical name |
Pappea capensis |
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Other names |
Jacket plum, doppruim (Afrikaans), iNdaba (Zulu), mothata (Tswana) |
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Family |
Sapindaceae |
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Dimensions |
Medium sized tree, fast-growing, often up to 8m in height, but occasionally exceeds 12 m, with a dense, rounded crown |
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Description of stem |
Smooth light-grey bark |
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Description of leaves |
Simple, oblong, alternate leaves tend to cluster near the ends of twigs; markedly serrated in younger plants and coppice shoots, while in mature trees close to entire; paler green below, rough and leathery, wavy; apex rounded; petiole about 1,5 cm; central vein or midrib sunken, whitish and conspicuous; semi-deciduous, especially in harsher climates; new leaves pink or bronze |
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Description of flowers |
Small greenish or pale yellow flowers, floral parts in fives, appear in long (10 to 15 cm) axillary and terminal catkins; dioecious; September to May |
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Desciption of seed/fruit |
Green, round and velvety, over 1cm in diameter, splitting open to reveal a bright red fleshy fruit containing a dark brown seed (on the female tree), December to May |
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Description of roots |
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Variation |
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Propagation and cultivation |
Easy to grow from seed or stem cuttings, slow growing in the colder and drier areas where it occurs, but established trees tend to grow faster |
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Tolerances |
Drought resistant and adapts to wide temperature variations |
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Uses |
Popular larger garden and park tree; edible fruit; Masai warriors are said to eat the fruit as a blood-strengthening tonic, to gain courage or as an aphrodysiac; some say it is browsed by game and cattle, although this may be in specific regions only; the fruit is made into a jelly, vinegar or an alcoholic drink; the seed contains an oil used as a purgative and to treat ringworm; the bark is also used medicinally; eaten by many bird species, butterflies and other insects |
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Ecological rarity |
Common, not threatened |
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Pests and diseases |
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Other |
Will be the SA Dept of Water Affairs and Forestry's (common) Tree of the Year in 2011 |
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Location |
Open and grassy woodland, rocky outcrops and brackish flat areas, sometimes in bush close to rivers or dry river vicinities; close to termite mounds |
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Distribution |
Northern, Western and Eastern Cape, Free State, Kwazulu-Natal, Gauteng, North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga |
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Country |
South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi, Kenya, DRC, Ethiopia, Eritrea |