Schotia afra var. afra pod beginnings

A newly formed Schotia afra var. afra pod is green or reddish and fleshy, flat and curving when the seeds start growing inside. The remains of the flower’s style persist for a while at the pod tip. There is a thickening of the stem where the pod is attached to its stalk.

In olden times the indigenous people and early settlers used to eat the seeds; either still partly green, or when ripe they were roasted and ground into meal. Without supermarkets food shortage spurs ingenuity; also accidents from ingesting poison and consequent learning done the hard way (Coates Palgrave, 2002).