10 Sherbet Tree - Dialium schlechteri Seeds - Indigenous Edible Fruit

Dialium schlechteri Seeds

Common Names: Sherbet Tree, Zulu Podberry; Zoeloepeulbessie

Commonly known as Sherbet Tree and Zulu Podberry in English or Zoeloepeulbessie in Afrikaans Dialium schlechteri is a very attractive forest tree, with shiny leaves and mottled white bark that will appeal to every tree lover in South Africa.

Dialium schlechteri is a small to medium-sized (5–15 m) deciduous tree found in sand forest and coastal forests in Maputaland (Tongaland) in northern KwaZulu-Natal. It is usually multi-stemmed with a dense rounded crown. Bark is pale grey, smooth and mottled. Leaves are compound, opposite, subopposite to alternate, with 3–6 pairs of leaflets and a terminal one; leaflets are oblong and shiny green with asymmetric bases and entire margins. Leaves turn yellow before dropping. Small flowers (10 mm long) are borne in terminal compact branched heads (80 x 80 mm diameter). They have a strong but unpleasant scent. Petals are absent. The inside of the calyx lobes is white; on the outside they are covered with golden brown velvety hairs. Fruit: the pods are oval, thin-shelled and velvety red-brown (25 mm long). A bright orange, dry pith surrounds the seeds. The brown fruits are usually borne in profusion from autumn onwards.

The fruits are edible and very popular with Zulu children, as they are very tasty. According to some people, they taste exactly like sherbet. The pulp is sometimes mixed with water and milk to make a refreshing drink. The wood has a beautiful close grain, a good surface and a fine colour. It is reddish towards the centre, lighter outward and without sapwood. It is hard, heavy and insect-proof. Sim, in his Forest flora of Portuguese East Africa, describes the wood as the best hardwood seen. The Zulus grind the bark to a powder and apply this to burns.

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