Sideroxylon inerme last fruits

Ripe to overripe, these Sideroxylon inerme or white milkwood fruits are the diehards remaining on the stems when most have been eaten or lying on the ground at the season’s end. By the sea here in Walker Bay it would mainly be birds or bats that might eat some. No monkeys or bushpigs remain in these parts where so many people holiday.

The grey stems are typically gnarled from departed growth of leaf, flower and fruit, even though theyre among the top branches, still thin and not too old.

The scattered fruits vary somewhat in size and colour from shiny black to grey-black or dark purple. A belated green fruit is trying some dull yellow on its skin before it too will conform to the dark concluding standard that is the norm for its kind.

A single seed is produced in each fruit. It is almost spherical and faintly angled or ribbed. The seed is from 5 mm to 9 mm in diameter whereas the berry that contained it may be up to 12 mm in diameter (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997).