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Ocotea bullata
Also called Stinkwood
Black Stinkwood is a large evergreen tree from South African high forests, growing up to 30 m tall with glossy leaves and prized timber. It prefers shade when young and grows fast once established, but is a protected species in South Africa and is best grown in a large garden or park.
Ocotea bullata, (stinkwood or black stinkwood, Afrikaans: Stinkhout, Xhosa: Umhlungulu, Zulu: Umnukane) is a species of flowering tree native to South Africa. It produces very fine and valuable timber which was formerly much sought after to make furniture. Due to over-exploitation it is now a protected species. Other names for it are Cape Walnut, Cape laurel, and laurel wood. The name "stinkwood" comes from a strong smell that is released when it is fresh felled.
Ocotea bullata can be a very impressive tree for a larger garden or park. Care must be taken with their planting and they prefer a shady position but, once established, they are quite fast growing.
Stinkwood trees can be propagated with some difficulty from cuttings. It can also be grown from seed, which must be freshly picked, cleaned and planted immediately. Germination takes around 30 days.
This tree is indigenous to the high forests of South Africa, from Table Mountain in the south, to the afro-montane forests of Limpopo in the north.
The tree yields a beautiful timber much prized by cabinet-makers. The wood is dark walnut or reddish brown to black with a yellow sap-wood, and the grain extremely fine, close, dense and smooth. It is said to be as durable as teak. The tree is badly overexploited and the wood is no longer available commercially.
Ocotea catharinensis · Ocotea langsdorffii · Brazilian Walnut · Sweetwood
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Ocotea bullata 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.
