Calodendrum capense leaves

The large leaves of Calodendrum capense are aromatic, simple and opposite on petioles of up to 1,2 cm long.

The leaf-shape is elliptic, the tip tapering or rounded and sometimes notched, while the base tapers or is lobed. Leaf dimensions are 6 cm to 13 cm by 3,5 cm to 7,5 cm. Outsized leaves occur on these trees, some of 22 cm long are occasionally seen.

The leaf surface is dark green, glossy above, pale below and hairless when mature. There are conspicuous, scattered gland dots on the blades, translucent against the sun. The leaf margins are entire and wavy, in picture curved up along the margins and mildly twisted.

The midrib and lateral veins are cream-coloured, prominent on the lower surface, clearly visible on both. They ascend slightly to the margins, fading as they curve up near them. These veins fail to maintain their fairly orderly, parallel pattern in several exceptional ways: by uneven spacing, singular curving and splitting into branches (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Schmidt, et al, 2002; Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997; Pooley, 1993).