Cape Saffron

Cape saffron is an evergreen tree which is usually around 2 to 5 meters in height, but can sometimes grow to 15 meters in the right conditions. The tough, round, leathery leaves are usually dark green, but can be copper, orange or scarlet coloured depending on growth. The bunches of small, bisexual flowers have a strong, but pleasant fragrance, and the fruits are berries that appear as green and then gradually darken to purple and black. The trunk eventually assumes an orange saffron colour, as the grey bark flakes off exposing the orange under-layer.

It is naturally distributed throughout the southern and eastern parts of South Africa, including Eswatini. Here it grows in a wide variety of habitats, from deep Afromontane forest to coastal dunes and rocky mountain slopes. In addition to the most common and widespread subspecies, there are two rare dwarfed subspecies (subsp. barbara & affinis) which occur in restricted pockets in the Western Cape. It is now cultivated as an ornamental garden tree throughout South Africa.