Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden, South Africa

Common name: melkhoutboom, witmelkhout, melkboom, white milkwood, aMasethole, mutaladzi-vhufa, aMasethole-amhlope, umaphipha

Family: Sapotaceae (Sapodilla)

Synonym: Sideroxylon atrovirens, Sideroxylon inerme var. schlechteri

Distribution: Southern Africa

IUCN Red list: Not evaluated

National red list: Least Concern

Comments: Three trees are National Monuments. The Mossel Bay 'Post Office Tree' to which Portuguese soldiers tied a shoe containing a letter, describing the drowning at sea of Bartholomew Diaz, is said to be 600 years old. The 'Treaty Tree' is in Woodstock, next to the house where a Commander handed over the Cape to the British in 1806. At the 'Fingo Milkwood Tree' near Peddie, Eastern Cape, the Fingo people affirmed their loyalty to God and the British king after English soldiers led them to safety.