About Tabernaemontana elegans Stapf
Tabernaemontana elegans Stapf can grow up to 15 metres (50 ft) tall, with a trunk that reaches up to 30 centimetres (12 in) in diameter. Its flowers are fragrant, with corolla lobes that are white, creamy, or pale yellow. The fruit is made up of two separate ovoid or ellipsoid pods, each growing up to 8 centimetres (3 in) long. This species grows in forests or bushland at altitudes ranging from sea level up to 1,000 metres (3,300 ft). It is native to Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, and South Africa. It has a number of local medicinal uses: it is used to treat heart disease, cancer, tuberculosis, and venereal diseases, and is also used as an aphrodisiac. The Zulu name for this genus, iNomfi, references the use of the plant’s sticky, milky latex as bird-lime.
