Ehretia amoena sandpaper bush

The leaves of Ehretia amoena shown here are shiny and brightly green. They are well spaced on the stems and alternate. The petiole is short and brown, unlike the cream-coloured leaf midrib, while spaced, parallel, lateral veins are noted by their position rather than being physically visible. The net-veining contributes to the uneven appearance of leaf surfaces, adding to the coarseness from the surface hairs that lie flat on the leaf, hard above and soft below. Occasionally one or two small leaf teeth may be found on the lateral margins near the tip but absent here. Some leaves in the picture show the tiny points sometimes present at the leaf tips.

The wood of this shrub is used as fence posts and pestles for stamping grain. One of the common names of the tree is stamperwood, recognising this application. The roots feature in various medicinal uses. Game browses the leaves (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997).