''Sclerocroton integerrimus'', the duiker berry, is a tree in the family

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of a genus in the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', are herbs, but some, e ...

, from

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 of ...

Taxonomy

This species was originally named as two species; ''Sclerocroton integerrimus'' Hochst. (1845) and ''S. reticulatus'' Hochst. (1845). When ''Sclerocroton integerrimus'' was united for the first time, Baillon (in Adansonia 3: 162. 1863) adopted the name ''Stillingia integerrima'' (Hochst.) Baill. for the combined taxon. This tree has also been named ''Sapium integerrimum''; with most literature referring to it by this name (2010).

Distribution

Found from the coastal areas of

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 ...

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 ...

, to

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

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

.Pooley, E. (1993). ''The Complete Field Guide to Trees of Natal, Zululand and Transkei''. .

Description

A small to medium-sized tree growing up to 15m tall.

Stem and branches

Single or multi-stemmed, with smooth pale grey bark, and arching, weeping branches. The branchlets are reddish-brown, later becoming grey-brown in colour.

Leaves

The leaves are alternate, shiny and dark-green above, and paler beneath. The leaves are ovate-lanceolate to ovate-oblong in shape, with entire or shallowly serrated leaf margins. The leaf petioles are 3–5 mm long, and the leaf blades 20–100 mm long and 10–50 mm wide.

Flowers

Small yellowish flowers are produced on terminal spikes. The flowers are either all male or with 1 female flower at the base of the spike.

Fruit

The fruit is a 3-lobed capsule up to 25 mm in diameter. The fruit opens by splitting into three roughly circular parts, with each of the 6 valves bearing a shortly-conical appendage (horn) 2 mm long. When ripe; the fruit are green or coppery in colour, and leathery in texture. Each of the cocci bears one seed enclosed in a 2 mm thick woody

endocarp Fruit anatomy is the plant anatomy of the internal structure of fruit. Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits. Agg ...

. The seeds are 7 × 5 mm in size, ovoid-ellipsoid in shape, smooth surfaced, and dull, pale greyish-brown flecked and spotted with darker brown.

Wood

The wood is heavy, hard and durable.Schmelzer, H. G. and Gurib-Fakim, A. (2008). ''Medicinal Plants''. Plant Resources of Tropical Africa (Program).

Uses

The leaves are used in traditional medicine as a mouth wash and to treat toothache. The fruit have been used to make black ink and for tanning, and the wood has been used to make furniture and for hut building. The fruit are eaten by

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

Ecological significance

This is one of the larval food plants for two species of butterfly; ''

Sevenia boisduvali ''Sevenia boisduvali'', the Boisduval's tree nymph, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. There are four subspecies; all native to Africa. Description The following is a description for ''S. b. boisduvali'': The wingspan of Boisduval's ...

'' and ''

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 ...

''. The leaves are also eaten by

bushbuck The Cape bushbuck (''Tragelaphus sylvaticus'') is a common and a widespread species of antelope in sub-Saharan Africa.Wronski T, Moodley Y. (2009)Bushbuck, harnessed antelope or both? ''Gnusletter'', 28(1):18-19. Bushbuck are found in a wide ra ...

and

red duiker The red forest duiker, Natal duiker, or Natal red duiker (''Cephalophus natalensis'') is a small antelope found in central to southern Africa. It is one of 22 extant species form the subfamily Cephalophinae. While the red forest duiker is very s ...

. The fruit are eaten by

antelope The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammals ...

, and birds such as

crowned hornbill The crowned hornbill (''Lophoceros alboterminatus'') is an African hornbill. Description It is a medium-sized bird, in length, and is characterized by its white belly and black back and wings. The tips of the long tail feathers are white. Th ...

s.Bleher, B. ''Seed Dispersal and Frugivory: Ecological Consequences for Tree Populations and Bird Communities'': http://deposit.d-nb.de/cgi-bin/dokserv?idn=962677744&dok_var=d1&dok_ext=pdf&filename=962677744.pdf, retrieved 1 July 2010.

References

{{Authority control Hippomaneae Flora of Africa