The first 12000 reforestation trees of the Trees for Tourism program have been planted out in the reserve of farm 215, Overberg, South Africa under the auspices of the Platbos Conservation Trust. This booklet provides pictures and short descriptions of the 15 different indigenous tree species which will make up the backbone of the newest indigenous forest of South Africa.

1. Species of
South Africa’s newest forest

2. The first 12’000 trees under the Trees for Tourism Project are planted out
during July 2011 in the reserve of farm 215 in the Overberg
under the auspices of Platbos Conservation Trust.
Trees of the 15 indigenous tree species of which pictures
and short descriptions can be found on the following pages, will make up
the backbone of the newest indigenous forest of South Africa.
For more information about the Trees for Tourism Project,
contact Helen Turnbull (see below for contact details).
www.treesfortourism.co.za +27 (0) 84 571 5900 plant@treesfortourism.co.za

3. Apodytes dimidiata
White pear | Witpeer | Umdakane
Medium to large evergreen tree up to 25m. A profusely
flowering tree : delicate and sweet-scented. Fruit is black-
purple attached to a scarlet fleshy substance, the latter
to attract birds. Used in the past for furniture and wagon-
making. Not many large specimens are left. Leaves can
be eaten, boiled and mixed with porridge. The root bark is
used against intestinal parasites.
Distribution : from the Western Cape to central Africa
Family : Icacinaceae (White pear family)

4. Canthium mundianum
Rock Alder | Klipels
A small tree up to 5m occuring in coastal and inland forest,
mostly as an understory tree or at the margins of the forest.
In spite of its common name, it does not grow in rocky areas.
“Klip” makes reference to the very hard nature of the wood, a
subtleness which was lost in the translation into English.
Fruits are edible and have the flavour of wild medlar.
Distribution : from the Western Cape to Zimbabwe
Family : Rubiaceae (Coffee family)

5. Celtis africana
White stinkwood | Witstinkhout | Ndwandwazane
A large tree up to 40m. One of the few South African deciduous
trees. It will grow in dense forest or solitary. White stinkwood
bears separate male and female (tiny and white) flowers.
The fruit is a drupe, yellow at first, brown when ripe.
The small and oval leaves are eaten by Bushbuck and Grysbuck.
Baboons eat the ripe fruit as do many fruit eating birds, Good
tree for butterflies.
Distribution : from the Western Cape to Arabia
Family : Ulmaceae (Elm family)

6. Chionanthus foveolatus
Fine-leaved ironwood | Pock ironwood
Fynblaarysterhout | Pokysterhout
Very variable in size, but mostly 5-8m.
Often found in the understory of the forest.
Pock ironwood bears small white flowers. Its fruit is an
oblong drupe with little flesh and a large stone, purple
when ripe. Leaves are lance-shaped with nodules. Bark is
smooth and grey.
Distribution: from the Western Cape to Zimbabwe and
Mozambique.
Family : Oleaceae (Olive family)

7. Cunonia capensis
Red Alder | Rooiels
Up to 30m. Occurs on streambanks and in moist forest.
Pinnate leaves with dark green, glossy, toothed leaflets.
Handsome cream and scented flowers which stand up
like pairs of candles. The Red alder is one of the staple
trees of the riverine forest remnants in the Overberg.
Distribution : from the Western Cape to Mozambique
Family : Cunoniaceae (Wild alder family)

8. Curtisia dentata
Assegai tree | Assegaai | Assegaaiboom(hout)
Medium to large tree up to 20m. The leaves are glossy,
strongly toothed (hence the name ”dentata”), oblong with a
pointed tip and growing in pairs. Prominent brown veins show
on the undersurface of the leaf. Its fruit is a drupe with
flattened top, red when mature and edible, but bitter in taste.
Origin of common name : the shape of the leaf looks like an
assegai; The wood has never been used to make any assegai.
Distribution : from the Western Cape to Mozambique.
Family : Cornaceae (Dogwood family)

9. Diospyros whyteana
Bladdernut | Blackbark | Bostolbos | Swartbas |
Umanzimane
Small tree up to 15 m with glossy darkgreen foliage and white
flowers. Its fruit is a cherry-red berry within a casket, which is
papery when the fruit is ripe. The (edible) seed has been used
as a coffee substitute, one of its old common names is
“Wild coffee”. Leaves browsed by Klipsringer and Grysbok.
The tree is popular with fruit-eating birds.
Distribution : from the Western Cape to Ethiopia.
Family : Ebenaceae (Ebony family)

10. Halleria lucida
Tree fuchsia | White olive | Notsung | Witolyf
Wilde kersies | Kinderbessie | iliMinza
Mostly small -multi-stemmed- understory tree, but can grow
up to 30m in forest. Prefers the forest edge. The common
names White olive and Tree fuchsia have no botanical
justification. Striking orange-red tubular flowers which
are visited for its nectar by sugar birds and bees.
The fruit, a berry, is eaten by fruit-eatingbirds, but also by
people and can be stored for a long time.
Distribution : from the Western Cape to Ethiopia
Family : Scrophulariaceae (Snapdragon family)

11. Ilex Mitis
African holly | Cape holly | Water tree |
Without | Waterboom | iPhuphuma
Up to 25m with a straight trunk. Always in or very near to
water. A close relative of the European holly, but does not
share its prickly leaf. Male and female trees. A mass of edible
scarlet berries, highly favoured by birds, is ripe in mid-winter.
The African holly is an excellent natural water-management
tree, helping to save the water supply from drying up.
Distribution : from the Western Cape to Ethiopia
Family : Aquifoliaceae (Holly family)

12. Kiggelaria africana
Wild peach | Wilde perske | iMunwe
Fast-growing medium sized tree. The leaves are medium green
above and whitish green underneath but shape and texture
of the leaf is very dependent on habitat. The red clear-wing
butterfly feeds upon the leaves. Hundreds of its caterpillars
may be seen in season and sometimes completely defoliate
the tree. This multi-stemmed and re-coppicing tree produces
an excellent fuel.
Distribution : from the Western Cape to Northern Africa
Family : Flacourtiaceae (Wild peach family)

13. Olea africana
Wild olive | Wilde Olyfboom | Olienhout |
Umnquma
Small tree up to 10m and the ancestor of the domesticated
olive tree. The Wild olive is hardy and drought resistant and
can grow in practically all soil types. To make it more disease
resistant, the domesticated olive is often grafted on to a wild
olive tree. The fruit of the Wild olive is edible but it is said that
people would only eat them in times of famine. Traditionally
the leaves have been used for many medicinal purposes.
Distribution : from the Western Cape to Northern Africa
Family : Oleaceae (Olive family)

14. Olinia ventosa
Hardpear | Hardepeer
Medium to large evergreen tree. One of the fastest growing
of indigenous trees and a forest pioneer. Endemic to the
Western and Eastern Cape of South Africa.
Leaves are dark-green glossy but thin. Crushed leaves smell
of almonds. Fruit a red drupe which is ripe midsummer,
favoured by many birds. Platbos forest boasts some large
and ancient specimens.
Distribution : from the Western to the Eastern Cape
Family : Oliniaceae (Hardpear family)

15. Podocarpus latifolius
Real yellowwood | Broad-leaved yellowwood
Opregte geelhout | Umkhoba
A tall conifer with a straight trunk producing male and female
inflorescense on separate trees, This yellowwood has been
strongly harvested and was highly valued for beams, floors,
tables and railway-sleepers. Ripe fruit (bright scarlet or purplish)
eaten, but only when freshly picked.
Distribution : from the Western Cape to Mozambique
Family : Podocarpaceae (Yellowwood family)

16. Rapanea melanophloeos
Cape Beech | Kaapse boekenhout | Beukenhout |
isiCalabi
A tree up to 20m, preferring the edge of the forest where it
has room to spread its crown.
Handsome, dark green foliage; leaves clustered at the end of
the twigs. Small cream pink-tinged cream-coloured flowers
which attract many insects. The fruit is a black-purple berry
much sought after by birds.
Distribution : from the Western Cape to Zambia
Family : Myrsinaceae (Myrsine family)

17. Sideroxylon inerme
(White) milkwood |(Wit) melkhout | Jakhalsbessie
Small tree up to 10m, but can become ancient.
Common in coastal forests, where it is found in a compact,
wind-shaved mass. Milkwood flowers are cream in colour and
tiny. The fruit is a berry, purple when ripe; edible in the sense
that it is not poisonous. Tough dark-green leaves, growing in
pairs. It is called milkwood because of the milky juices in bark,
leaves and fruits.
Distribution : from the Western Cape to Zimbabwe and
Mozambique.
Family : Sapotaceae (Milkwood familiy)

18. The information in this booklet has been
sourced from the following publications :
Indigenous Trees of the Cape Peninsula
M. Whiting Spilhaus
Juta and Co. Limited, Cape Town, 1950
Suid-Kaapse Bosse en Bome
F. Von Breitenbach
Die Staatsdrukker, Pretoria, 1974
Trees of Southern Africa
Keith Coates Palgrave
Struik Publishers, Cape Town, 1977 - 2000
Edible wild plants of southern Africa
Francis William Fox and Marion Norwood Young
Delta Books, Johannesburg, 1982
Indigenous Healing Plants
Margaret Roberts
Southern Books, 1990
Making the Most of Indigenous Trees
Fanie & Julye Ann Venter
Briza publications, Pretoria, 1996
Field Guide to Trees of Southern Africa
Braam & Piet van Wyk
Struik Publishers, Cape Town, 1997

19. is an initiative of :
www.platbos.co.za www.serendipityafrica.co.za www.farm215.co.za