Cryptocarya woodii
Cryptocarya woodii, the Cape quince, is a shrub or small forest tree, native to southern and eastern Africa. Its Latin name commemorates John Medley Wood, a botanist in Natal. From mid summer the tree bears small, inconspicuous flowers. The ripe fruit have a bumpy surface and are shiny, purple-black in colour. When a leaf is viewed against light some minute secretory glands are visible in the vein polygons. The larvae of Papilio euphranor and Charaxes xiphares breed on the foliage of this tree.
