Ormocarpum trichocarpum pod

The more bristly than hairy pod of Ormocarpum trichocarpum has to be believed rather than seen, covered by the red-brown to yellowish mass; the caterpillar of the hairy caterpillar-pod.

If you don’t relish a ticklish brush sensation in your mouth, don’t eat it! Maybe the tree is not too concerned with browser support for seed dispersal, or the ideal browser has acquired taste of a kind unimaginable to humans. But as the browsers include black rhino, kudu, giraffe and even cattle, discrimination between leaves and fruit may not be exercised (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997).