Compilation
Ekebergia capensis

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Name

Identification
Ekebergia capensis Sparrm. [family MELIACEAE ]
Related name
  • Ekebergia capensis

Flora

Entry for Ekebergia capensis [family MELIACEAE]
Herbarium
South African National Biodiversity Institute, Compton Herbarium, Cape Town (SAM)
Collection
Flora of Southern Africa
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of South Africa, (2003) Author: Dr J.P. Roux
Names
Ekebergia capensis [family MELIACEAE]
Common names
Trichilia ekebergia E. Mey. ex Sond. in F.C. 1: 246 (1860); E. Mey. ex Drege, Zwei HI. Doc. 227 (1843), nom. nud.; Pappe, Silv. Cap. 5 (1862). Syntypes: South Africa, Tsitsikamma ('Sitzekamma'), Drege s.n. (TCD; S); Port Natal, Krauss (TCD; S). Ekebergia meyeri Presl ex C. DC. in Monogr. Phan. 1: 642 (1878); Presl, Bot. Bemerk. 25 (1844), nom. nud. (as Eckebergia); Bum Davy, Fl. Transv. 2: 487 (1932). Type: South Africa, 'Cape Peninsula', Drege s.n. (B, nolo., presumably destroyed).
Information
Evergreen or semi-evergreen tree up to 20 m tall, often with a wide, umbrageous crown. Leaflets (7)9-13, lanceolate to oblong-lanceo­late, up to 145x60 mm, tapering to an acumi­nate, subacuminate or, rarely, acute apex, base asymmetric; lower surface glabrous to tomen-tose. Inflorescence 70-250 mm long. Flowers white or pinkish white. Calyx 2 mm long, spar­sely to densely puberulous. Petals 4-5 mm long, elliptic-oblong, densely puberulous on both surfaces. Staminal tube 2 mm long, pube­rulous outside, densely bearded at the throat inside. Ovary 15x2-2,5 mm, densely setu-lose; style 0,5 mm long. Drupe deep red, 18x15 mm, with (1)2-4(5) pyrenes. Chromo­some number: 2n=46 (Vosa & Burras 452, South Africa). Figs 15: 1 & 16.
Habitat
The Dog plum or Essenhout, like most widespread species, is very variable. Most individuals from the eastern Cape have very prominent leaf scars, a narrowly winged rhachis and small, narrow, crowded leaflets. In tropical Africa and Natal the predominant form has a wingless rha­chis and larger, broader, more widely spaced leaflets. These two variants, however, have been confused since before 1860. There are also too many intermediates and the overall pattern is too diffuse to justify the formal recognition of named taxa. The Cape variant is often cultivated as a street tree and in gardens. E. capensis is sometimes confused with Harpephyllum caffrum Bernh. (Anacardiaceae), the leaves of which are superficially similar.
Use
1. Ekebergia capensis Sparrm. in K. Svenska Vetensk-Akad. Handl. 40: 282, fig. 9 (1779); Thunb., F.C. edn Schult. 542 (1823); Sond. in F.C. 1: 247 (1860) excluding Ecklon & Zeyher 425; Pappe, Silv. Cap. 6 (1862); C. DC. in Monogr. Phan. 1: 641 (1878); Bum Davy, Fl. Transv. 2: 487 (1932); White & Styles in F.Z. 2: 316, fig. 62 (1963); Ross, Fl. Natal 216 (1972); Van Wyk, Trees Kruger Nat. Park, 1: 274 & photos (1972); Palmer & Pitman, Trees S. Afr. 2: 1065 & photos (1973). Type: South Africa, Sparrman s.n. (S, holo.!).
Range
Widespread in tropical Africa from Senegal to Ethio­pia and southwards to Zambia, Botswana and South Africa. In various types of forest and scrub forest from near sea-level to 1 675 m. Map (see fig. 16).

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