Mundulea sericea

Mundulea sericea

Quantity:

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

Wildlife

Host Plant:

Host plant to two butterfly species.

Uses

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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