General Info.

This evergreen Tree may reach 30m high.  The dark green imparipinnate Leaves have leaflets with stipels.  The bisexual, zygomorphic, pea-like Flowers at branch ends.  Fruit is a dehiscent pod + oval shaped seeds.

Description.

Philenoptera sutherlandii.

Previous Name: Millettia sutherlandii.

SA Tree No. 228.

Common names: (Afr) Basteroemzimbiet, Bosappelblaar, Reuse-omsambeet. (Eng) Bastard umzimbeet, Forest Apple–leaf, Giant Umzimbeet. (isiXhosa) Umgunye, Umkunye, Umqunye. (isiZulu) Umsimbatshani, Umsimbishana, Umsimbithana.

Family: Fabaceae, or Leguminosae. (Pea, bean or legume family).  After the Orchidaceae and the Asteraceae, the Fabaceae is the third largest Angiosperm (flowering plants) family with 700+ genera and close to 20 000 species.  Local Tree genera on this website include Acacia (Vauchellia, Senegalia), Albizia, Bauhinia, Bolusanthus, Burkea, Calpurnia, Colophospermum, Cordyla, Cyclopia, Dichrostachys, Erythrina, Erythrophleum, Faidherbia, Indigofera, Mundulea, Peltophorum, Philenoptera, Piliostigma, Schotia and Xanthocercis.  The Fabaceae are recognisable by their fruit and by their pinnately compound Leaves.  Leaves may also be simple and usually have stipules – some of which may be spinescent.  Leaflets are usually entire.  Flowers are bisexual and bracteate.  Regular flowers usually have 4-5 sepals and the same number of petals.  Irregular flowers have 4-5 sepals and 5 or less petals.  Stamens have anthers that have 2 pollen sacs and there are usually at least twice the number of stamens as petals – often 10.  The superior Ovary has one locule that may contain 1 or more ovules.  The Stigma and Style are simple.  The single carpel develops into the Fruit, which is usually a pod.  This pod dehisces on both sides and may break into segments.  Seeds vary.

Name derivation:  Philenoptera Greek: tractable + winged.  This refers to the slightly winged pod.  sutherlandii – named after Dr Peter Cormac Sutherland 1822-1900.  He was a doctor, Government geologist in Natal in 1854 and Surveyor-general of Natal in 1856.

Conservation: National Status: L C (Least Concern).  Assessed: 2005 (W. Fodden and L. Potter).

Tree

This big, evergreen Tree is up to 30m high and has a trunk that may reach in excess of 1m wide.  The Trunk is usually light, pale grey and ends in a dense crown.  Forest trees are usually buttressed and here the Bark may be olive-grey, often cracked into tiny squares and finely flaking.  Branches are smooth and grey.  Rusty brown hairs cover young twigs.  Lenticels are also present on young branches.

Leaves

The dark green imparipinnate (pinnately compound leaf ending in a single leaflet) Leaves are up to 30cm long and usually have 3 or 4 pairs of opposite, or nearly opposite Leaflets (photo 416) + the terminal one.  Leaflets are entire (with a continuous margin, not in any way indented).  Leaflets are light to dark green, broadly lanceolate or oblong.  The smooth leaflets are up to 4cm long when mature.  Stipels (secondary stipules situated at the base of a leaflet of a compound leaf) may be present.  The upper surface of the leaf Rachis (main axis) is grooved (photo 416).  The Petiole (leaf stalk) has a swollen base (photo 412).  The Petiolules (stalks of leaflets) are less than 5mm long (photo 416).  Lateral veins curve and finally join to the margins.  These and other veins are clearly visible when the leaf is viewed against a strong light (photo 419).  Here a hand lens will help.

Flowers

The light red to purple, typically pea-shaped Flowers have velvety rusty brown buds.  These buds develop into flowers at branch ends.  Each Flower is bisexual and zygomorphic (floral parts unequal in size or form so that the flower is capable of division into essentially symmetrical halves by only one longitudinal plane passing through the axis).  The Calyx has 5 joined Sepals which are hairy and have lobes that are teeth like.  The Corolla is divisible into 5 petals as follows: the uppermost is the conspicuous Vexillum or standard petal, which has a light triangular portion at its base.  Below this, on either side are 2 Wing petals and these are outside the lowermost 2 joined, incurved Keel petals.  Inside the keel petals, are 9 Stamens joined to form a tube at the base and the tenth, upper stamen, directly below the vexillum is free.  All Anthers are uniform.  The superior Ovary has one locule (cavity or compartment) with a number of ovules.  This extends into a simple curved Style and a simple Stigma (Dec-Jan).

Fruit

The initially green Fruit (photo 410) is a visible pendulous Pod (dry dehiscent fruit) that becomes a flat, woody and red-brown (photo 415).  Reddish-orange Hairs cover the mature pod that is up to 12 x 4cm.  The many conspicuous mature pods may give the tree a reddish tinge.  The pods dehisces on the tree releasing the flat, shiny, oblong Seeds.  These seeds may be kidney or oval shaped.  Old pods may remain on the tree after seed dispersal. (Feb-Sep).

Distribution & Ecology

This tree is Endemic (Endemism is the ecological state of a species being unique to a defined geographic location) in southern Africa.  In the forest, this tree often towers above neighbouring trees.  These trees are normally found in the Eastern Cape e.g. Port St Johns, and Kwa-Zulu-Natal e.g. Ngoya Forest, which is on an extensive granitic ridge which rises between 200 and 450+m above sea level.  It is about 150km north of Durban and 12km from the coast.  This tree may occur in Swaziland (one report).  These trees grows best on sandy soil.  Larvae of the Striped Policemen butterfly (Coeliades forestan) feed on the Leaves of this and other trees along the eastern side of southern African region.  The Orange-barred playboy butterfly Deudorix diocles  larvae feed on the Fruit and Seeds.

Ethnobotany

The Wood is soft, tends to flake away in rings and is not much used by man. This plant can be grown from seeds.

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. Philenoptera sutherlandii (Harv.) Schrire. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version 2020.1. Accessed on 2021/04/22.

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

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

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coeliades_forestan

https://vcce.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/VCCE-butterflies.pdf

https://www.geni.com/people/Dr-Peter-Cormack-Sutherland-MD-FRCS/6000000030747215316

https://www.ispotnature.org/communities/southern-africa/view/observation/441035/philenoptera-sutherlandii