Mundulea sericea

Mundulea sericea

Common Names

Cork Bush, Silver Bush, Rhodesian Silver-leaf (english)Kurkbos, Blou-ertjieboom, Olifantshout, Visboontjie, Visgif, Mangaanbos (afrikaans)umHlalantethe, umSindandlovu (zulu)Mosetla-tlou (n. sotho)Ntsandzandlopfu, Maibana, Mohato, Mosikatse, Mosita-thlou, Moswaatlou (tswana)Mukunda-ndou (venda)umSindandlovana (swazi)

Taxonomy

Family FABACEAE
Genus Mundulea
Species sericea
SA Plant Number 226
Basionym Mundulea sericea

Description

Mundulea serica is a very hardy, semi-deciduous, decorative, large shrub or very small tree that always stands out in its natural habitat of grassland and rock.

The fissured corky bark is a protection against fires which are frequent in its habitat. It has blue-grey leaves that are covered in silvery hairs giving the whole shrub a silvery look.

It has gorgeous, dense pendulous bunches of deep mauve, pea-shaped flowers from October to February that attract masses of birds coming to sip on the nectar as well as a myriad of insects. With its robust, neat shape and corky bark, it makes a good accent plant but needs well-drained soil.

It is host plant to two butterfly species. Traditionally used as a fish poison. The bark and roots have medicinal and magical qualities and crushed leaves are used to bleach hair. Lovely tree with non-aggressive roots for a small, sunny garden.

Size: 2 to 3m

Seeds

Lifestyle Seeds may have stock of Mundulea sericea seeds.

Wildlife

Host Plant: Host plant to two butterfly species.

Distribution

Limpopo, North West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu Natal

Natural Habitat Grassland, savannah, wooded grassland and thicket, often on rocky ridges, wooded hillsides, flats and sometimes near rivers.

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