Kirkia wilmsii

Kirkia wilmsii, commonly known as the mountain kirkia and in Afrikaans as the bergsering (mountain syringa), is a medium-sized tree, often multi-stemmed from the base, reaching heights around 12 m (SA Tree List No. 269).

In picture sparse, stalked clusters of fruit, four-lobed woody capsules, are ripening over stem-tip leaves. The spring flowers of this Kirkia are small and greenish white. The roots are thickened with stored water that serves the tree during drought periods.

The species distribution is north of the Vaal River in North West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, as well as beyond the border in southern Africa.

The habitat is rocky hills and mountain slopes, also river gorges where the trees sometimes grow in profusion. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Schmidt, et al, 2002; http://redlist.sanbi.org).