Pterocelastrus tricuspidatus fruit

Yellow candlewood or Pterocelastrus tricuspidatus horned fruits spotted in forest margins look very different to most fruits seen on the majority of trees in the Nature’s Valley region.

Birds eat these fruits, while people used plant parts in the past in traditional medicine.

The branches and roots contain a flammable resin. In olden days people used them as torches, earning the tree the common name of candlewood (Venter, 2012; Coates Palgrave, 2002; Pooley, 1993; INaturalist; http://pza.sanbi.org).