Pseudolachnostylis maprouneifolia

Pseudolachnostylis maprouneifolia, the koedoebessie or kudu berry, is a special tree that is too little known (SA Tree List No. 308). The kudu berry has a rounded, spreading crown commonly reaching heights around 6 m, rarely 12 m.

The tree looks quite spectacular in autumn when the leaves turn red. It has pale grey to brown bark on a single main bole and its bigger branches. The leaves are alternate, simple, round to ovate. Its flowers are small greenish white in axillary clusters.

The fruits are green, spherical, segmented with the flower styles persisting on the tips, occurring on the female trees, the trees being dioecious. Fall to the ground when still green, the fruits and are browsed by elephants and antelope.

Kudu berry trees occur in the north of South Africa, in all four provinces north of the Vaal River, as well as in tropical Africa.

The habitat is rocky outcrops in bushveld and woodland, forests and thickets, grassland and along rivers. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Coates Palgrave, 2002; www.plantzafrica.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).