Pouzolzia
mixta (Soap-nettle)
[= Pouzolzia hypoleuca]
Seepnetel, Wildebraam [Afrikaans]; isikukuku
[Ndabele]; Nthadzwa [Tswana]; Muthanzwa, Murovhadembe [Venda]
Life
> eukaryotes >
Archaeoplastida >
Chloroplastida
>
Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants)
> Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants)
> Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering
plants) > Eudicotyledons > Core Eudicots > Rosids >
Eurosid I > Order: Rosales >
Family: Urticaceae
Identification
- A multi-stemmed shrub or small tree, growing to a maximum
height of about 4 m
- The bark is smooth, dark reddish-brown. The branchlets have
a velvety surface.
- Watery latex present.
- The leaves are simple, spirally arranged and ovate with a
tapering apex and lobed base, 3-veined from the base, and with
smooth margins. They have contrasting upper and lower surfaces,
the upper surface dark green and the under-surface silvery
white-felted. Leaves tend to stick together and to clothing.
- The flowers are small, greenish with separate male and
female flowers on the same plant. They grow in dense clusters in
the axils of leaves.
- The fruit is a very small nut enclosed in the remains of the
flower.
Distribution and habitat
Native distribution extends from northern
KwaZulu-Natal, through Swaziland, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Northwest
Province, Limpopo, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and then further north as far
as Malawi. Grows on dry rocky hillsides, in open woodland, and
along dry stream banks.
Ecological interactions
No information.
Uses
- Fibres from the bark are used to make rope and string and to
make fishing nets.
- The leaves are cooked as a green vegetable, often with
the leaves of the related plant,
Obetia tenax.
- The leaves produce
Names
Genus is named after Pierre M. de Pouzolz
(1785-1858), who wrote about the French flora.
Species name mixta means mixed, possibly
referring to the contrasting colours of the upper and lower surfaces
of the leaves.
Links
References
- Palgrave, K.C. and Palgrave, M.C. 2002. Trees of Southern Africa. 3rd
Edition. Struik Publishers, Cape Town.
- Palmer, E. and Pitman, N. 1972. Trees of Southern Africa covering all
known indigenous species in the Republic of South Africa, South-West Africa,
Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. Volume 1. A.A. Balkema, Cape
Town.
- Schmidt, E., Lötter, M. and McCleland, W. 2002. Trees and Shrubs of
Mpumalanga and Kruger National Park. Jacana, Johannesburg.
- van Wyk, B. and van Wyk, P. 1997. Field Guide to Trees of Southern
Africa. Struik Publishers, Cape Town.
Text by Hamish Robertson |