Englerophytum magalismontanum

Taxobox
name = Transvaal milkplum


image_caption = "E. magalismontanum"
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Ericales
familia = Sapotaceae
genus = "Englerophytum"
species = "E. magalismontanum"
binomial = "Englerophytum magalismontanum"
binomial_authority = (Sond.) T.D.Penn.

"Englerophytum magalismontanum" (Sond.) T.D.Penn., is an evergreen tree usually growing in rocky places, with a wide distribution from northern KwaZulu-Natal along the east coast and into the interior, northwards into tropical Africa.

Belonging to the family Sapotaceae with some 35 genera and 600 odd species, mostly trees with leathery, entire leaves and found throughout the tropics and subtropics, rich in latex and yielding substances like gutta-percha and balatá.

"E. magalismontanum" at various times in the past was known under the names "Bequaertiodendron magalismontanum", "Pouteria magalismontana" and "Chrysophyllum magalismontanum" - the specific name referring to the Magaliesberg from where the species was first described. This tree is usually known by its Afrikaans name "stamvrug" ("stem fruit") which refers to its habit of bearing densely clustered fruit on the trunk and thicker branches, a common feature of this family. The fruits are tasty and sweet with very little pink flesh, rich in latex and leathery-skinned. The flowers are similarly crowded on the trunk and branches, and smell strongly of fermenting honey. Flowers are bisexual.

Stamvrug trees at maturity can range from 1 metre tall on exposed dip slopes with very little soil and prone to stunting by fire, to about 15 metres in the shelter of kloofs with ample water and deep soil. Crowns are densely-leafy and rounded, branched almost to the base, with leaves crowded at ends of branches, densely covered in golden-brown velvety hairs below, and often with a whitish indumentum above. Closely related to "Englerophytum natalense" (Sond.) T.D.Penn. and "Mimusops zeyheri" Sond. and often found in association with the latter. The specific name refers to the Magaliesberg where the tree was first found and described, and commonly occurs. The species is a larval food plant for the butterfly "Pseudacraea boisduvalii trimeni"

Gallery

ee also

*List of Southern African indigenous trees