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African dog rose

Xylotheca kraussiana

Also called Dog Rose

African dog rose
Photo: The original uploader was Paul venter at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0

Xylotheca kraussiana is an African shrub or small multi-stemmed tree in the family Achariaceae, native to sandy coastal bush and forest from southern Mozambique to KwaZulu-Natal. Its key to growing it is sandy, well-drained soil and a warm, frost-free site.

Family
Achariaceae (Achari family)
Grows as
Tree, Shrub
Light
Part shade, Bright indirect
Water
Water regularly while young, then let the top of the soil dry between waterings.
Soil
Sandy, free-draining soil or a light mix with added grit.
Temperature
18-30 °C; protect below 5 °C
How easy
Moderate
Native range
S. Mozambique to KwaZulu-Natal
Climate
subtropical

About

Xylotheca kraussiana is an African shrub or small multi-stemmed tree in the family Achariaceae. It grows in the sandveld and is widely distributed throughout the eastern parts of Southern Africa, in particular the eastern Transvaal, coastal Natal and Mozambique, preferring the sandy soils of coastal bush and forest.

'Xylotheca' meaning 'woody case' and the species name honouring Dr C.F.F. Krauss (1812-1890), a German naturalist, who later became director of Stuttgart's Natural History Museum. Krauss came to the Cape in 1838, collected in Natal from 1839 to 1840. About 8 other species of Xylotheca are to be found in central Africa and Madagascar.

Other Xylotheca plants

Xylotheca

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Xylotheca kraussiana 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.

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