Laurophyllus capensis Seeds - Iron Martin - Indigenous Shrub or Small Evergreen Tree

Laurophyllus capensis Seeds

Iron Martin; Ystermartiens, Filabossie, Vlakwitels

Endemic to the Western and Eastern Cape, the iron martin has separate male and female trees. The female trees carry unusual woody flowering structures, formed by bracts, that remain on the tree long after the flowers and seeds have disappeared. These resemble bunches of closely packed deer antlers along the terminal branches of the tree. Laurophyllus capensis commonly known as Iron Martin in English and Ystermartiens, Filabossie or Vlakwitels in Afrikaans is an evergreen shrub or small shrubby tree up to 6 m, with erect branches. The leathery, strongly serrated, elliptic leaves are simple, deep to dark green, glossy on the upper surface and paler beneath, 60-140 mm long, arranged alternately along the branches and exude a sticky, brown, resinous juice when crushed. The white or yellow flowers are very small, made up in four to five floral parts and appear from August to January. The flowers on the male tree occur in lax terminal sprays, whereas on the female tree, the flowers are borne in strangely branched flower heads, also at the ends of branches. Some people mistakenly think that these are deformities caused by a parasite. The male flowers have no ovaries and there are no stamens in the female flowers. The fruit is a small, flattened, single-seeded nutlet, about 4-5 mm in diameter, with a slight wing, and is packed tightly into the woody female flowering structure. This structure starts off green and matures to a rich brown, then finally weathers to a silvery grey after a year or two. The genus Laurophyllus is placed in the Anacardiaceae family.