Gymnosporia senegalensis in Sabi Sand

Gymnosporia senegalensis is a spreading shrub, sometimes a small tree commonly called the confetti spikethorn (SA Tree List No. 402). It is usually only 3 m to 5 m tall, occasionally reaching heights double that.

The leaves are spirally arranged or fascicled on the slender spines that become as long as 7 cm. Leaf shape is oblong to obovate with shallow marginal toothing or scalloping. Leaf tips are rounded to notched, leaf bases tapering. The leaves are thinly leathery, net-veining sometimes visible on the blue-green surfaces covered in a whitish bloom.

G. senegalensis grows in the northeast of South Africa and widespread in the tropics to the north. The habitat is woodland and wooded grassland, often seen on termite mounds. The plant is adapted to terrain ranging from sea level to elevations around 2400 m. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century.

The fruits of the confetti spikethorn are eaten by people. The plant can easily be grown from seed. Browsers like elephant, giraffe and kudu eat the leaves. The buffaloes seen here are grazers. They will stick to grass (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997; http://redlist.sanbi.org).