Snuff-box tree

Description

Oncoba spinosa, the snuff-box tree, fried egg tree or fried-egg flower, is a plant species in the genus Oncoba. It is a small to medium-sized deciduous tree (usually no more than 5m in height) that has simple leaves. The blossoms are white and attractive with a yellow centre due to the stamens, resembling a fried egg. They appear on the tree from just before or around the time the new leaves are produced and the tree is in bloom for up to three months. The fruit is hardshelled, globose and has a pointed tip. It measures up to 80mm in diameter and is yellow to reddish-brown in colour. In southern Africa, it blooms from September to December. The tree is widely distributed along the eastern side of Africa as far as South Africa, mainly in dry woodland or open savanna in a wide range of sites from river valleys to rocky hills. Its northernmost limit is reached on the eastern side of the Red Sea in Arabia. Oncoba is a genus of plants in the family Salicaceae. It contains the following species: Oncoba brachyanthera Oliv. Oncoba breteleri Hul Oncoba routledgei Sprague Oncoba spinosa Forssk. Oncoba spinosa is a species ofthe Salicaceae family. This species from South-East Africa bears large, fragrant white flowers resembling camelies, with showy yellow stames and shiny serrated horns which, together with the roots of the tree, are used in Africa for medicinal purposes. Its fruits, golden mariellu and 6 cm in diameter, contain an edible but not tasty magaya. The hard fleas last indefinitely and are used to make rattles and tosquilé boxes. The tueru and the canes are armed with 5 cm long plaster casts. Oncoba spinosa was described by Forssk. and published in Flora Aegyptiaco-Arabica 1775.