Chionanthus foveolatus

Chionanthus foveolatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Oleaceae
Tribe:	Oleeae
Genus:	Chionanthus
Species:	C. foveolatus
Binomial name
Chionanthus foveolatus

Chionanthus foveolatus (commonly known as the Pock Ironwood or Bastard Ironwood) is a medium-sized, evergreen, Afromontane tree that is indigenous to South Africa.

C. foveolatus occurs at medium to high altitudes in habitats ranging from bushy or rocky hillsides and mountainous forests to coastal scrub. Its natural range is from Cape Town in the south, across South Africa as far as Limpopo in the north.

It has scaly grey bark and bears clusters of sweetly-scented, cream-white flowers from September to December. It is related to the familiar edible Olive, and likewise produces fleshy, ovoid, fruits which become black when ripe. It can be grown easily from seed. It can reach a height of about 10 metres in deep forest though it is usually considerably smaller than this, and it has a spread of about 5 metres. It grows well in full sun or semi-shade.

Description

• Family: Oleaceae
• Habit: Small tree with slender trunk, bushy crown and whippy branchlets.
• Height: Ranges from 5 to 8 metres.
• Bark: Light to dark-grey, with scattered corky spots when young
• Leaves: Opposite, simple, elliptic, glossy dark-green, with small bump or pits in the axils of the veins.
• Flower: White to cream, occasionally pink-tinged, sweetly scented, bisexual, in small sprays in the leaf axils. Sept. - Dec.
• Wood: Pale brown, strong and heavy.
• Fruit: Ovoid, fleshy berry, purplish-black when mature. Nov. - July.

References

http://www.westfordbridge.co.za/flora/chionanthus_foveolatus.htm