Description
Ptaeroxylon obliquum (Rutaceae). Sneezewood, Nieshout, umThathi (Xhosa). Sneezewood plants are easily identified by opposite leaves, with three to eight pairs of dark green leaflets, including a terminal pair at the tip. Foliage sometimes colours in autumn and winter, but the tree is not always decidouous. Flowers are small, sweetly scented and cream to orange colored. They appear in mid summer. Male and female flowers occur on different trees. Sneezewood is extremely hard and durable and highly valued as a timber.The tree is used traditionally both for medicine and ritual purposes. Bark is used as a snuff to relieve headaches. Pieces of wood can be placed in cupboards to repel moths. The resin from the heated wood has been applied to warts and powdered bark added to a wash to kill cattle ticks. Sowing. They are easy to germinate. Sow in spring or summer. Locality: Grahamstown. Harvest: January 2022
