Androstachys
Androstachys johnsonii, the Lebombo ironwood, is a slow-growing, medium-sized tree native to southeastern Africa and Madagascar. It is the only species in the genus Androstachys, in the Picrodendraceae family. The tree is evergreen to deciduous and has separate male and female plants (dioecious); its wind-pollinated flowers appear in October–November. It usually grows on hot, dry rocky hillsides and along seasonal watercourses, up to about 1,000 meters in elevation, often forming dense thickets. The wood is extremely hard and durable and has economic value. In southern Mozambique it is called simbirre and is used for flooring, posts, huts, and fences; it is sometimes traded as mecrussé, though supply is limited. In southern Africa it occurs in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and Eswatini.
Description: up to about 20 m tall, with rough bark and new growth covered in white woolly hair. Leaves are opposite, 3–9 cm long and 2–7 cm wide, ovate to heart-shaped, green-blue on top and white woolly underneath. Flowers are unisexual: male flowers are yellow in small clusters; female flowers are yellow on long white stalks. The fruit is a bright green, three-lobed capsule that turns yellow or reddish brown and has a bristly surface. Seeds are chestnut brown, about 6.5–8 by 4.5–5 by 2–3 mm.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 09:41 (CET).