The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Crateva kirkii
Also called Three Finger Bush, Tonga Kerrie, Tonga Kierie, Tongakerrie, Tongakierie
Crateva kirkii, commonly known as the three-finger bush, is a small deciduous tree belonging to the Capparaceae or caper family. It ranges through eastern and southern Africa, including Kenya, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, and KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.
The species is named after Sir John Kirk (1832-1922), David Livingstone's companion on his Zambezi expedition of 1858 and the first European collector of the plant near Tete in Mozambique. It was formerly placed in genus Cladostemon (klados - a branch, stemon - a stamen).
This tree is found in bushveld and sand forest, in open woodland and scrub, preferring sandy soils in hot areas. The animals pollinating this species' flowers are as yet unknown, while the large size of the fruit suggests eating and dispersal by a large animal such as elephant, rhino or buffalo.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Crateva kirkii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
