''Mimusops zeyheri'' is a medium-sized (up to 15m) evergreen tree belonging to the family
Sapotaceae
240px, '' Madhuca longifolia'' var. ''latifolia'' in Narsapur, Medak district, India
The Sapotaceae are a family of flowering plants belonging to the order (biology)">order Ericales">family (biology)">family of flowering plants belonging to th ...
and widely distributed in rocky places from the east coast of southern Africa, inland and northwards to tropical Africa. It is commonly known as the moepel or Transvaal red milkwood. It is closely related to ''
Mimusops obovata'' and ''
M. afra'', both of which are South African trees.
Description
Its leaves are leathery and entire. Petioles and young leaves are covered in short rusty red hairs. Small amounts of latex can be seen on bruised leaves or petioles. The ripe yellow fruits have a glossy, brittle skin and are sweet and edible, floury in texture and slightly astringent. The wood is reddish-brown in colour, hard and tough, and was traditionally used in the making of wagons. Clusters of fragrant white flowers appear from October to January.
Habit
Given sufficient space, this species can grow into a very large, densely shady tree. Some enormous specimens are to be seen amongst the ruins of
Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe was a city in the south-eastern hills of the modern country of Zimbabwe, near Masvingo. It was settled from 1000 AD, and served as the capital of the Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe from the 13th century. It is the largest stone struc ...
. This species is often found in association with ''
Englerophytum magalismontanum''.
Gallery
Mimusops zeyheri01.jpg,
Mimusops zeyheri03.jpg,
Mimusops zeyheri02.jpg,
See also
*
List of Southern African indigenous trees and woody lianes
This is a list of Southern African trees, shrubs, suffrutices, geoxyles and lianes, and is intended to cover Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The notion of 'indigenous' is of n ...
References
zeyheri
Flora of South Tropical Africa
Flora of Southern Africa
Flora of Tanzania
Plants described in 1850
Taxa named by Otto Wilhelm Sonder
Great Zimbabwe
{{Sapotaceae-stub