Berchemia zeyheri (100 seeds)

Berchemia zeyherii (100 seeds)

Family: Rhamnaceae

Common name: Red ivorywood

The tree is grown for its beautiful red and hard wood used in furniture making. It is an evergreen to semi-decidous tree that is drought resistant but not frost resistant. The tree normally grows in dense groups with other trees, reaching 15 m in height and is very attractive to birds. The leaves have a thin texture and are a blue-green color. They have reddish leaf stalks and in colder areas the leaves turn yellow in autumn. Flowers are yellowish or greenish white, star-like in clusters, on stalks 10 mm long. Flowers appear in early to mid summer and are followed by sweet, yellow to brownish red fruit towards the end of summer.

Sowing instructions: They should be planted in seedling trays filled with river sand or a mixture of compost and river sand (1:1). After planting them, they should be covered with a thin layer of sand and kept moist. Germination takes 5-9 days. Seedlings should only be transplanted in nursery bags after reaching the 2-leaf stage.

Locality: Polokwane. Harvest: August 2023.