''Pterocelastrus echinatus'' ('pterocelastrus' = winged holly, 'echinatus' = spiny) is a small Southern African tree occurring in

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

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 ...

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 ...

, Eswatini, and

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...

. This species is found in montane and submontane evergreen forests, forest margins, rocky hillsides, and kloofs, growing between 600 and 2400 m above sea level. Also known as white cherrywood or ''witkersiehout'', this species is found as a shrub or small tree. It has pale grey bark, with bright orange underbark on young shoots which are angular with spirally arranged, entire, glabrous leaves, elliptic to lanceolate, somewhat leathery and glossy, dark green above, and paler below, margins often revolute. Petioles may be up to 8 mm long, often with a wine-red colour extending into the midrib. Fragrant flowers are small, white to cream, and in axillary clusters. The fruit a three-celled woody dehiscent capsule 6–8 mm long, yellow to orange to red when mature, each valve with one to three bluntly pointed to winglike protuberances and each seed almost entirely enveloped by an aril. The venerable Kew taxonomist N. E. Brown first published his description of ''P. echinatus'' in 1906 in the 'Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information Kew' 1906: 16. (Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew) The wood and roots produce resin which was used by Bantu tribes for attaching spear heads to the shafts. The attractive wood is pink to red in colour, resembling European cherry wood (''

Prunus avium ''Prunus avium'', commonly called wild cherry, sweet cherry, gean, or bird cherryWorld Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition'. CRC Press; 19 April 2016. . p. 833–. is a species of cherry, a flowering plant in the rose family, ...

''), and is dense and moderately durable. In the past, it was used in wagon-building for pivot-plates (''schamels'') and spokes. It is suitable for turnery and cabinet-making. The tree is host to a number of moth species from the family

Geometridae The geometer moths are moths belonging to the family Geometridae of the insect order Lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies. Their scientific name derives from the Ancient Greek ''geo'' γεω (derivative form of or "the earth"), and ''metro ...

- ''Aphilopota patulata'', ''A. subalbata'', ''Drepanogynis costipicta'', and ''D. olearis''.

Gallery

Pterocelastrus echinatus00.jpg, Pterocelastrus echinatus02.jpg, Pterocelastrus echinatus01.jpg,

References

External links

Flora of MozambiqueDistribution map
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15334530 echinatus Taxa named by N. E. Brown