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Hedgehog Tree

Pterocelastrus echinatus

Also called Escarpment Candlewood, Escarpment Cherrywood, Hedgehog Pterocelastrus, White Cherrywood

Hedgehog Tree
Photo: JMK, CC BY-SA 3.0
Family
Celastraceae (Celastr family)
Grows as
Tree, Shrub
Native range
S. Trop. & S. Africa
Climate
seasonally dry tropical

About

Pterocelastrus echinatus ('pterocelastrus' = winged holly, 'echinatus' = spiny) is a small Southern African tree occurring in South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, and Malawi. This species is found in montane and submontane evergreen forests, forest margins, rocky hillsides, and kloofs, growing between 600 and 2400 m above sea level.

Also known as white cherrywood or witkersiehout, this species is found as a shrub or small tree. It has pale grey bark, with bright orange underbark on young shoots which are angular with spirally arranged, entire, glabrous leaves, elliptic to lanceolate, somewhat leathery and glossy, dark green above, and paler below, margins often revolute. Petioles may be up to 8 mm long, often with a wine-red colour extending into the midrib. Fragrant flowers are small, white to cream, and in axillary clusters.

Other Pterocelastrus plants

Cherrywood · Pterocelastrus

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pterocelastrus echinatus 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.

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