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Botanical name |
Sterculia murex (SA No 475) |
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Other names |
Lowveld chestnut; laeveldkastaiing (Afrikaans); mohlatsane (sePedi) |
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Family |
Sterculiaceae |
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Dimensions |
Medium to large deciduous tree, may reach 12 m in height; a spreading tree with dense foliage |
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Description of stem |
Branching into a few heavy stems; grey bark or nearly black, that cracks up into rectangular patches, becomes darker with age |
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Description of leaves |
Five oblong leaflets are arranged digitately on every compound leaf; the leaves have long, hairy leaf stalks, whilst the leaflets are without stalks, tapering at both ends; margins entire; velvety surface, with conspicuous netveining on both sides; young leaves have a shiny bronze colour |
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Description of flowers |
Five-pointed light yellow or greenish yellow, recurving sepals present a shapely flower in the absence of petals; flowers occur in conspicuous sprays on leafless branches during spring; some pink dots may occur |
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Desciption of seed/fruit |
Large, five-lobed fruit, 30 cm in diameter, are found in summer and autumn; they are light green and covered in hard, hairy spines; the seeds are large, embedded among hairs that cause irritation to humans; the dry pod lobes are attractively boat-shaped and sometimes used as ashtrays |
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Description of roots |
A caudex occurs at the base of young plants (http://www.bihrmann.com/caudiciforms/SUBS/ste-mur-sub.asp ) |
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Variation |
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Propagation and cultivation |
Grown from seed |
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Tolerances |
Tender to frost; thrives in high rainfall areas |
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Uses |
People sometimes roast the seeds for eating; also eaten by baboons and other animals, including rats and mice; a garden tree |
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Ecological rarity |
Restricted to a small area in south-east Mpumalanga and adjacent areas of Swaziland |
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Pests and diseases |
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Other |
This tree is only in name related to chestnuts; there are about 150 species in the genus Sterculia; the genus gets its name from the Roman god of manure, Sterculius, probably because of the unpleasant aroma of some of the flowers (Wikipedia); the genus is sometimes called tropical chestnuts |
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Location |
Rocky, wooded hills |
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Distribution (SA provinces) |
Mpumalanga |
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Country |
South Africa; Swaziland |
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Info |