''Deinbollia oblongifolia'' is a shrub or small tree in the family

Sapindaceae The Sapindaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales known as the soapberry family. It contains 138 genera and 1858 accepted species. Examples include horse chestnut, maples, ackee and lychee. The Sapindaceae occur in tempera ...

. It is commonly known as the dune soap-berry and is found in coastal vegetation from the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

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 countri ...

, through

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

to southern

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, Malawi ...

and

Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

. It is named after

Peter Vogelius Deinboll Peter Vogelius Deinboll (8 January 1783 Copenhagen – 13 May 1874 Aker, Norway) was a Danish-Norwegian priest, parliamentary representative and entomologist. He was the son of Christian Deinboll and Karen Christiane Holm, and lived most of his ...

(1783–1876), a Danish botanist and plant collector.

Description

These plants can grow up to tall. The stem often branches low down and the bark is grey brown. The leaves are compound, up to long and clustered at the ends of the branches. The flowers are white, or cream and produced on branched flowering heads at the ends of the branches. The fruit are rounded; green and velvety when young to yellow and smooth when ripe. The dune soap-berry may be confused with a young forest mahogany (''

Trichilia dregeana ''Trichilia dregeana'', commonly known as the forest natal-mahogany, is a tree in the family Meliaceae. These trees are found in forest areas from the Eastern Cape of South Africa to Tropical Africa Although tropical Africa is mostly famili ...

'') because of the similar shaped compound leaves, however the dune soap-berry has paler green slightly matt leaves compared to the forest mahogany, which has a darker green leaf that is slightly more glossy. The leaves of the dune soap-berry are also hard textured (when mature) and not held flat as in ''Trichilia dregeana''.

Uses

The fruit is eaten by people. The leaves can be eaten as spinach, and the seeds can be lathered in water and used as soap (hence the name "soap-berry"). The roots are used in traditional Zulu medicine for stomach complaints. These shrubs are also valuable garden plants, especially in wildlife gardens.

Ecological significance

The flowers attract hordes of insects including;

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22 ...

s and

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

s. The leaves are fed on by the larvae of several butterflies, including; gold-banded forester (''

Euphaedra neophron ''Euphaedra neophron'', or the gold banded forester, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in eastern and southern Africa. Description 1. Neophron Group. The species of this group may be easily known by having the upperside of ...

''), forest queen ('' Euxanthe wakefieldi'') and the purple-brown hairstreak (''

Hypolycaena philippus ''Hypolycaena philippus'', the purple-brown hairstreak or common hairstreak, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is native to sub-Saharan Africa where it is commonly found in wooded locations. The wingspan is 22–28 mm for males ...

''). Various '' Deudorix'' butterfly species' larvae also feed on these trees, including the larvae of the black-and-orange playboy ('' Deudorix dariaves'') and the apricot playboy ('' Deudorix dinochares'')Biodiversity data provided by: Data contributors to the Southern African Butterfly Conservation Assessment (SABCA) (list of contributors accessible here: http://sabca.adu.org.za/thanks.php ), a joint project of the South African National Biodiversity Institute, the Animal Demography Unit, University of Cape Town, and the Lepidopterists' Society of Africa (accessed via SABCA’s online virtual museum, , 3 January 2010). which both eat the fruits of ''Deinbollia oblongifolia''. The larvae of the African peach moth (''

Egybolis vaillantina ''Egybolis'' is a monotypic moth genus of the family Noctuidae erected by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1847. Its only species, ''Egybolis vaillantina'', the African peach moth, was Species description, first described by Caspar Stoll in 1790. It i ...

'') also feed on the leaves, and the fruit are also eaten by birds (including the sombre greenbul (''

Andropadus importunus The sombre greenbul (''Andropadus importunus'') is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is a resident breeder in coastal bush, evergreen forest and dry shrub land in eastern and southern Africa. It is the only member of the genu ...

'')) and monkeys. ''

Charaxes The rajah and pasha butterflies, also known as emperors in Africa and Australia, (genus ''Charaxes'') make up the huge type genus of the brush-footed butterfly subfamily Charaxinae, or leafwing butterflies. They belong to the tribe Charaxini, w ...

'' butterflies feed on the fermenting fruits, and the green-veined charaxes (''

Charaxes candiope ''Charaxes candiope'', the green-veined emperor or green-veined charaxes, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is common in sub-Saharan Africa. Biology The habitat is forest and savanna excluding arid savanna. It also occurs in garden ...

''), pearl charaxes (''

Charaxes varanes ''Charaxes varanes'', the pearl emperor, Karkloof emperor, or pearl charaxes, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, found in Africa from Saudi Arabia to South Africa.Charaxes ethalion ''Charaxes ethalion'', the satyr emperor or satyr charaxes, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in southern Africa.Charaxes xiphares ''Charaxes xiphares'', the forest king emperor or forest king charaxes, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is native to Afromontane forest in the eastern and southern Afrotropical realm. Description The wingspan is 65–80 mm fo ...

''), white-barred charaxes (''

Charaxes brutus __NOTOC__ ''Charaxes brutus'', the white-barred emperor or white-barred Charaxes, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Africa (see subspecies section for detailed information). Its flight period is year-round. Notes on the ...

'') and the Natal tree nymph (''

Sevenia natalensis ''Sevenia natalensis'', the Natal tree nymph, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae found in southeastern Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 m ...

'') have all been observed feeding on the

sap Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a separa ...

of ''Deinbollia oblongifolia''. Furthermore these trees are browsed by game animals.

Gallery

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5252467 Flora of Southern Africa Plants used in traditional African medicine Sapindaceae Trees of Africa

Description

Uses

Ecological significance

Gallery

See also

References