General Info – summary

This small glabrous, evergreen plant, has trailing branches and single sharp spines up to 6cm long. It is usually a shrub or a small Tree up to 6m high.  The simple, shiny and opposite Leaves lack stipules.  Small, whitish, bisexual, regular and 5-merous Flowers arise in panicles between leaf axils.  Filaments are subterete & the 1-locular ovary is superior.  Fruit is an orange, single seeded drupe with a persistent style.

Description

Cassinopsis ilicifolia

Previous Names: Hartogia ilicifolia, Cassinopsis capensis.

SA Tree No. 420.

Common names: (Afr) Lemoendoring, Lemoentjiedoring.  (Eng) Holly Cassinopsis, Lemon Thorn, Spiny Lemon, Wild Lemon.  (siSwati) siHloko.  (isiXhosa) Icegceya, Igcegceleya, Ikhumalo, Isibethankunzi-sehlathi, Ukhovothi.  (isiZulu) Eluhlaza, Ihlazane, Ikhumalo, Imamba, Imamba-eluhlaza, Isanhloko, Isihlokolozane.

Family: Icacinaceae. After recent studies, many genera in this family have been moved to other families.  There are currently 23 genera and 160 species.  Here the evergreen Leaves are simple, lack stipules and are opposite or alternate.  Flowers usually have up to 3 bracts present and are usually actinomorphic and bisexual.  Longitudinally dehiscent Anthers are longer than the free Filaments.  When present, a simple Style is attached to the superior 1-locular Ovary.  Typically, a single seed is contained in the Fruit (a Drupe).  Cassinopsis ilicifolia and Cassinopsis tinifolia are the two species of the genus Cassinopsis found in South Africa. The latter one has black fruit and lacks spines.

Name derivation: Cassinopsis – resembles Cassine (a genus of trees in the Celastraceae family).  ilicifolia – leaves resemble those of Ilex (Holly).

Conservation: National Status: L C. (Least Concern).  Assessment: 2005 (W. Foden and L. Potter).

Tree

This small glabrous (hairless) but spiny plant may grow up to 6m high, or may be a scrambling shrub or bush.   It has flexible branches which is able to assist with its climb into the canopy.  The plant is often as wide as high (photo 404) and is usually multi-stemmed with long, trailing branches.  Young stems are bright glossy green (photo 855).  The Bark is pale grey becoming dark brown on older branches.  Between the older pieces of bark, the underbark is visible as thin, lengthwise running whitish lines (photo 280).  The long, flexible, even zigzagging branches have single, relatively straight slender and very sharp Spines, that are up to 5cm long (photo 76).  They occur only on one side of a branch.  These spines are the remains of old fruit stalks and occur between the petioles (leaf stalks) of the opposite leaves (photo 76 – under Leaves).  Unlike Carissa, there is no milky latex present, and the spines are not paired.

Leaves

In this evergreen tree, the slightly leathery, thinly textured, shiny (photo 857) and hairless Leaves are simple (have a single blade that may have incisions that are not deep enough to divide the blade into leaflets).  They are opposite (photo 546), narrowly ovate (egg-shaped) and up to 6 x 2,5cm (photo 547).  An interpetiolar ridge is just visible (photo 76).  The upper surface of the Blade is glossy green with indistinct veins (photo 857).  The lower surface is a dull, lighter green with a more clearly defined venation (Midrib and Lateral veins – photo 547).  The distinction between the upper and lower surface is somewhat dependent on where and when the leaf is observed (photos 76 & 546).  The venation is more clearly defined when the leaf is held against a strong light (photo 534).  Initially the veins move away from the midrib at about 45 degrees. From about half way to the margin they curve towards the apex.  The Apex is attenuate (showing a long gradual taper) and may have a long drip-tip (photo 795 – under Flowers).  The Base is broadly tapering.  The Margin may be rolled under and, away from the base, often has forward pointing sharp-tipped teeth (photo 857).  The short Petiole (leaf stalk) is up to 8mm long and may be channelled above (photo 547).  Stipules (basal appendages of the petiole) are absent.

Flowers

The small (up to 7mm wide), inconspicuous, bisexual, white, yellowish or creamy green and 5-merous Flowers (photo 795) are actinomorphic (Regular, symmetrical.  Flowers are vertically divisible into similar halves by more than 1 plane passing through the axis) and are best examined with a hand lens.  Flowers that arise between 2 leaf axils occur in compact dichotomously branched Panicles (an inflorescence in which the primary floral axis is branched, and these branches may branch again and again – each eventually ending in a flower).  Flowers leaves and spines all arise from a Node (joint from where the leaves arise).  The space between the 2 nodes is called the internode.  Flowers alternate from node to node, are opposite a spine, and between two petioles (leaf stalks).  Each flower develops on a short Pedicel (stalk of a single flower) that is about 1cm long (photo 550).  The green, 5-lobed Calyx is small (photo 550, 315 & 726).  No Disc (a more or less fleshy or elevated development of the receptacle) is present.  The 5-lobed Corolla has 5 whitish Petals that are longer than the sepals (photo 315).  The 5 Stamens alternate with the petals and the mature anthers are distinctly yellow (photo 315).  Each Filaments is subterete (nearly circular in cross section).  In photo 716, the change in the anthers over about a 3-week period is visible.  The single Pistil (a unit of the Gynoecium, the female element of the flower, composed of the Ovary, Style and Stigma) has a sessile, superior, pubescent (with dense fine, short, soft hairs – downy) and a 1-Locular Ovary that contains 2 pendulous Ovules.  (Sep-Feb+).

Fruit

The slightly fleshy, smooth, ovoid and up to 1,3cm long Fruit is a slightly flattened Drupe (e.g., peach: a fleshy, 1-seeded indehiscent fruit with the seed enclosed in a stony endocarp – the inner layer of the pericarp or fruit wall).  It becomes bright red or orange at maturity and terminates with the remains of the persistent Style (photo 557).  In this photo the green calyx is visible.  Each drupe produces 1 small Seed (photo 768).  Each seed has conspicuous endosperm (the starch and oil-containing tissue of many seeds; often referred to as the albumen).  (Feb-May+).

Distribution & Ecology

This plant is a fringe-forest dweller and often occurs in high-altitude forests.  It also occurs in shady areas near streams or/and rocks.  The plants can tolerate light frost and drought (in severe conditions the leaves droop).  These plants may also be canopy climbers. In South Africa these plants occur in the Western and Eastern Cape, Eastern Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, and Limpopo.  Beyond South Africa they are found in Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Madagascar.  This plant is thus Endemic (endemism is the ecological state of a species being unique to a defined geographic location) in southern Africa and Madagascar.  Birds including guineafowl, starlings, barbets, franklins and bulbuls eat the Fruit.  Buck including duiker, kudu and klipspringer consume the Leaves.  Galls with orange larvae are often visible.

Ethnobotany

This non-poisonous plant, has ripe edible fruit.  However, cultivated plants have erratic fruiting.  The Seeds may be worn as ornaments. Propagation is by seeds that germinate easily.  Plants can be trained to form a hedge as a good wind and people barrier.  Goats and cattle eat the Leaves.  The Root system is non-aggressive.  This somewhat slow growing plant is frost hardy and flourish in both full sun and light shade.

References

Boon, R. 2010. Pooley’s Trees of eastern South Africa. Flora and Fauna Publications Trust, Durban.

Coates Palgrave, M. 2002. Keith Coates Palgrave Trees of Southern Africa, edn 3. Struik, Cape Town.

Foden, W. & Potter, L. 2005. Cassinopsis ilicifolia (Hochst.) Kuntze. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version . Accessed on 2024/09/28.

Ginn P.J. Mcilleron W.G. and Milstein P. le S, 1989. The Complete Book of Southern African Birds. Struik, Cape Town.

Lawrence, G. H. M, 1951. Taxonomy of Vascular Plants. The Macmillan Company, New York. Tenth Printing 1965.

Palmer, E. & Pitman, N. 1972. Trees of southern Africa. Balkema, Amsterdam, Cape Town.

Schmidt, S. Lotter, M. & McCleland, W. 2002. Trees and Shrubs of Mpumalanga and the Kruger National Park. Jacana, Johannesburg.

van Wyk, B. & van Wyk, P. 1997 Field guide to Trees of Southern Africa. Struik, Cape Town.

 

http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantcd/cassinopilicifolia.htm

http://witkoppenwildflower.co.za/cassinopsis-ilicifolia/

http://posa.sanbi.org/flora/browse.php?src=SP

https://www.kew.org/science/tropamerica/neotropikey/families/Icacinaceae.htm

 

http://treesa.org/cassinopsis-ilicifolia/