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Drypetes gerrardii
Also called Forest Ironwood, Hairy Drypetes
Forest ironplum is a small evergreen tree or large shrub from Central and Eastern Africa, grown mainly for shade, its nectar-rich flowers, and its edible fruit in its native range. It grows best in a warm, frost-free climate with fairly consistent moisture.
Drypetes gerrardii is a species of small tree or large shrub in the family Putranjivaceae. Common names include forest ironplum, bastard white ironwood, and forest ironwood. It is native to tropical and subtropical central and eastern Africa. It was first described in 1920 by the English botanist John Hutchinson, who named it after the English botanist William Tyrer Gerrard who collected plants and seeds in southern Africa in the 1860s.
This tree is native to Central and Eastern Africa, where its range extends from South Sudan, Uganda and Kenya, southwards to Angola, eastern South Africa and Eswatini. In South Africa it is found in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces. It grows in drier evergreen forests, in riverine corridor forests, and sometimes in wetter rain forests, as well as in scrubby habitats, at altitudes between 600 and 2,300 m (2,000 and 7,500 ft).
As a small tree, the timber of Drypetes gerrardii is not traded but is used locally for poles, tool handles, furniture, utensils and pestles. It is also used as firewood and for making charcoal. The flowers are nectar-rich and attract honeybees and the fruit is edible. The tree has limited use in traditional medicine, a decoction prepared from the roots being used for abdominal pain and powdered leaves and roots being used to treat gonorrhea. The tree is sometimes grown to provide shade.
Water Ironplum · Grey boxwood · Yellow Tulipwood · Drypetes dolichocarpa · Drypetes gardneri · Drypetes hoaensis · Guiana plum · Drypetes oblongifolia · Drypetes sepiaria · Drypetes thorelii · Drypetes venusta · Drypetes wightii
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Drypetes gerrardii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
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.
