PLATE 314. 
SiDEROXTLON INERME, Limi (Sp. PI., 192). 
Natural Order, Sapotaoeae. 
An evergreen tree, 20 to 3C feet liig'h, bearing small greenish -white flowers. 
Bark, dark coloured, glabrous. Leaves alternate, petiolate, exstipulate, elliptical 
to ovate or ovato-lanceolate ; margins quite entire, a little recurved; obtuse at 
apex, tapering to the petiole at base, midvein prominent beneath, quite glabrous, 
coriaceous, dark green and shining above, paler and dull beneath; 2 to 4^ inches 
or more long, f to \^ inch wide ; petiole | inch long, thickened. Flowers axillary 
or scattered on the branchlets, solitary or tufted, pedicelled, pedicels 2 to 3 lines 
long. Calyx gamosepalous, deeply 5-parted, imbricate, tube very short, 3 lobes 
exterior, 2 interior, all broadly ovate, entire, erect, the whole calyx 2 lines long, 
finely and sparingly pubescent. Corolla gamopetalous, 5-lobed, ]^ line long, lolies 
ovate, equalling the tube, glabrous, greenish-white. Stamens 5, alternating with 
5 barren ones, the perfect ones opposite corolla lobes, filaments nearly twice the 
length of corolla lolies, linear ; anthers oblong, 2-celled, dorsifixed, opening out- 
wards ; starainodes alternate with the corolla lobes, petaloid, ovate, membranous, 
equalling lobes of corolla. Ovary superior, ovate, 3 to 5-celled, cells 1 -ovuled, 
style a little longer than ovary, stigma obtuse. 
Habitat .- Natal : Coast Forests. Bluff, March, 200 feet alt , Wood, No. 8703. 
Drawn and descril)ed from Wood's 8703. 
The genus Sideroxylon includes more than 60 species, widely scattei^ed in 
different parts of the world. In South Africa three species are known, but the 
above described one is the only one found in Natal. There are also several species 
in Tropical Africa. All of them are trees, and the woor] of many of them is 
vMluable. That of S. inerme has been used in Natal for fencing posts, boat 
building, and other purposes, and is known as " White Milkwood." The tree 
seems to be confined to the coast districts, and is frequently met with close to the 
sea. The natives call it um-Hlahla, and use the bark medicinally as an astringent. 
The ovary is normally -5-celled, but is often found with 3 or 4 cells only. 
Fig. 1 , calyx ; 2, same opened, showing stamens and staminodes ; 4, corolla 
opened, stamens and staminodes removed ; 5, ovary, style and stigma ; 6, cross- 
section of ovary ; oil enlarged. 
