Deinbollia xanthocarpa

Deinbollia xanthocarpa (Klotzsch) Radlk.

Common names

Northern soap berry (English); kasikizi, mtalala (Nyanja).

General description and distinguishing characteristics

A scrambling, often multi-stemmed shrub or small tree up to 7 m tall. Bark on young branches striate with velvety red hairs. Leaves compound, paripinnate, with 3-9 pairs of leaflets; leaflets oblong to narrowly elliptic, up to 6 x 2 cm, light green, glabrous with the rachis often narrowly winged, apex rounded, notched. Petiole almost absent or up to 1 cm long. Flowers white, up to 1.2 cm in diameter, produced in dense, terminal catkins or racemes up to 20 cm long (September). Fruit a spherical to ovoid yellow berry, about 1.5 cm in diameter (October-November).

Deinbollia borbonica Scheff. is also recorded in the valley in similar habitats. It can be distinguished from D. xanthocarpa by its long (3-9 cm) petiole.

Range and habitat

Deinbollia xanthocarpa occurs in low altitude woodland and thicket, including riparian fringes and in rocky habitats. It occurs throughout the Zamezian region, and down as far south as Limpopo Province in South Africa. In the Luangwa valley, it is primarily associated with riparian woodland and riverine thicket.