The Leaves are borne in threes at a node and the short stalk bends back, allowing the leaves to hang vertical. They are 3 inches long and an inch broad, a rich, dark green above, silvery below, with the dense covering of silky hairs. The venation is parallel on either side of the mid-rib, short and long nerves alternating. The leaf is inclined to fold up along the mid-rib.
The Flowers appear in the rains and are in large, erect sprays. Each flower is about ¼ inch in diameter with 5 sepals, 5 white petals and 10 stamens. Owing to their numbers and prominent position at the twig ends, they are conspicuous.
The Fruits are numerous, flattened, single-seeded ovals, shiny black with wrinkled skins and persistent for many months on the leafless tree in the dry season. They are very hard and are a ready means of identification.
SARCOCEPHALUS RUSSEGERI Kotschy.—Tafashiya. RUBIACEAE.
This common species is often more of a shrub than a tree, but in the more favourable localities which it inhabits, chiefly “fadammas” or wet soils among rocks, 30 feet is by no means an unusual height. Older trees generally have several large, crooked stems rising from a common stock or a short, stout bole some 5 feet in girth. Smaller, shrub-like specimens are very straggling with open growth and long, drooping and interlacing branches. The crown, in spite of the size and thickness of the leaves, is fairly open. It is easily identified by either the flowers or fruit which latter can be found for several months of the year.
The Bark is grey, or brown and dull in older trees, with very deep, wide and long fissures and thick, soft ridges. The scales are up to 12 inches in length. The slash is yellow, with crimson streaks.
The Wood is a deep red-brown colour, but is not used owing both to the small sizes and the lack of bole in the tree.
The Leaves are large and rounded with a tongued tip. They average 7 inches long and 3 inches wide, but reach as much as 10 inches long and 5 inches wide. The upper surface is a dark, shining green with pale venation; the under surface pale green with the venation raised. There is a short, red leaf-stalk.