Ozoroa engleri fruit

The ripe Ozoroa engleri fruits in picture are ellipsoid, their surfaces black, shiny and wrinkled. Normally kidney-shaped or bean-shaped to rounded, the fruit is a thinly fleshy drupe, initially coloured pale green with a few red-brown spots, appearing pitted. Fruit dimensions are about 10 mm long and 5 mm wide.

The fruits grow in loose clusters on sometimes reddish pedicels and peduncles. Here the stem-tip cluster is presented firmly above the leaves. The fruits are usually on the tree from late summer to early winter.

These resinous fruits are ground up by some traditional populations for use in hairdressing (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Schmidt, et al, 2002; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997; Pooley, 1993; iNaturalist).