''Sideroxylon inerme'' (aMasethole or white milkwood, af, wit-melkhout, xh, Ximafana, zu, Umakhwelafingqane) is a

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number ...

n coastal tree, with dense foliage, black berries and small, foetid, greenish flowers. The tree's generic name means "Iron-wood" in Greek, referring to its very hard timber. It is one of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

's "Protected Trees" and several specimens are provincial heritage sites.'' Sideroxylon inerme''
in Freddie Bosman' site, from the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. This is the only member of the genus ''Sideroxylon'' in southern Africa.

Distribution

Sideroxylon inerme South African Milkwood habit IMG 4863

The ''Sideroxylon inerme'' trees are scattered through the coastal woodlands and littoral forests of South Africa as far as

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. Historically, dense forests of large milkwood trees used to exist along the coast and bays of

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...

, especially at Noordhoek, Macassar and Gordons Bay. The milkwood is not endangered but it is one of South Africa's

Protected Tree Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

s, which means that it is illegal to damage, move or destroy them.

Description

''Sideroxylon inerme'' is a semi-coastal sturdy broadleaf evergreen tree with dense foliage, displays of white bisexual flowers and edible purplish-black berries. It boasts leathery, spiral leaves, which, like the berries, contain milky latex. Young branches and new leaves are always covered with fine hairs. The tree can reach 15 m. The milkwood has considerable value in traditional medicine and attracts birds, monkeys and other animals to its flowers and fruits : Speckled mousebirds eat the flowers ; birds, bats,

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incom ...

s and bush pigs eat the fruit. It is also an effective

firebreak A firebreak or double track (also called a fire line, fuel break, fireroad and firetrail in Australia) is a gap in vegetation or other combustible material that acts as a barrier to slow or stop the progress of a bushfire or wildfire. A firebre ...

and is cultivated for that purpose.

Subspecies

''Sideroxylon inerme'' carries three sub-species : * ''Sideroxylon inerme cryptophlebium'' (Baker) J.H.Hemsl., which grows on

Aldabra island Aldabra is the world's second-largest coral atoll, lying south-east of the continent of Africa. It is part of the Aldabra Group of islands in the Indian Ocean that are part of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles, with a distance of 1,120 k ...

(

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, ...

) ; * ''Sideroxylon inerme diospyroides'' (Baker) J.H.Hemsl., whose range extends to

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

and

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Mala ...

; * ''Sideroxylon inerme inerme'', in

and

.''Sideroxylon inerme''
in PROTA4U site, a database and use guide for African plants.

Historical aspects

The Treaty Tree - Woodstock Cape Town 1890 - Sideroxylon inerme

The white milkwood has great significance in South Africa's heritage, with three specimens proclaimed as provincial heritage sites: *The Post Office Tree in

Mossel Bay Mossel Bay ( af, Mosselbaai) is a harbour town of about 99,000 people on the Southern Cape (or Garden Route) of South Africa. It is an important tourism and farming region of the Western Cape Province. Mossel Bay lies 400 kilometres east of the ...

is believed to be 600 years old. The Post Office tree, which still stands about 1000 feet from Santos Beach, is considered the first (unofficial) post office in South Africa. It was declared a

provincial heritage site Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Cana ...

in 1938 and is marked with a plaque reading: “This post office tree stands near the fountains where the Portuguese navigators regularly drew water at Aguada de São Bras (now Mossel Bay) from 1488 onwards. In May 1500 Pêro de Ataíde, captain of a homeward bound ship of Pedro Cabral’s fleet, left a message here which was found on 7 July 1507 by the outward bound ships of

João da Nova João da Nova ( gl, Xoán de Novoa, Joam de Nôvoa; es, Juan de Nova; ; born c. 1460 in Maceda, Ourense, Galicia; died July 16, 1509 in Kochi, India) was a Portuguese-Galician explorer of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans at the service of Portuga ...

. According to tradition the message was placed in an old shoe and tied to a tree”. The seven-year-old letter described the loss at sea of four ships from the expedition of

Bartolomeu Dias Bartolomeu Dias ( 1450 – 29 May 1500) was a Portuguese mariner and explorer. In 1488, he became the first European navigator to round the southern tip of Africa and to demonstrate that the most effective southward route for ships lay in the o ...

, and warned of hostilities encountered on the Indian coast. In 1962 SAPO, the South African postal service, erected a mail box at the tree in the shape of a shoe, and items posted from there are cancelled with a special stamp. *The

Treaty Tree The Treaty Tree (Afrikaans: ''Verdragboom'' or ''Traktaatboom'' ) is a 500-year-old white milkwood tree on Treaty Road and south of the rail line in Woodstock, Cape Town, South Africa. Peace was made under the tree on 10 January 1806 after th ...

Woodstock, Cape Town Woodstock is one of the earliest suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa, between the docks of Table Bay and the lower slopes of Devil's Peak, about east of the city centre of Cape Town. Woodstock is served by Woodstock and Esplanade railway stations ...

stood next to the house where in 1806 the Batavian Republic (the modern

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

) surrendered Cape Town to the British. *The Fingo Milkwood in the Eastern Cape was the location where in 1835 the

Fengu people The ''amaMfengu'' (in the Xhosa language ''Mfengu'', plural ''amafengu'') was a reference of Xhosa clans whose ancestors were refugees that fled from the Mfecane in the early 19th century to seek land and protection from the Xhosa and have sinc ...

signed a treaty of alliance with the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with t ...

Gallery

Sideroxylon inerme00.jpg, Detail of flowers Sideroxylon inerme01.jpg, Detail of the fruit. Sideroxylon inerme - Milkwood foliage - Cape Town.JPG, Detail of the foliage.

References