Drypetes arguta
{{Short description|Species of tree}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Drypetes arguta, vrug, Krantzkloof NR, a.jpg
|image_caption = Water ironplum fruit in Krantzkloof Nature Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal.
|genus = Drypetes
|species = arguta
|authority = (Müll.Arg.) Hutch. (1920)
|synonyms = Cyclostemon argutus {{small|Müll.Arg. (1866)}}
|synonyms_ref = [https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:344962-1 Drypetes arguta (Müll.Arg.) Hutch.] Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
}}
Drypetes arguta, commonly known as the water ironplum, is a species of small tree or large bush in the family Putranjivaceae. It is native to tropical East Africa. It was first described in 1920 by the English botanist John Hutchinson, who named it Cyclostemon argutus. It was later transferred to the genus Drypetes.{{cite web |url=http://www.tropicos.org/Name/12802871 |title=Drypetes arguta (Müll. Arg.) Hutch. |work=Tropicos |publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden |accessdate=27 July 2019}}
Description
Drypetes arguta is a small tree or large straggling shrub, growing to a height of about {{convert|8|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}.{{cite book|author=Lemmens, R.H.M.J.|author2=Louppe, D.|author3=Oteng-Amoako, A.A.|title=Timbers 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4MpmAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA320 |publisher=PROTA |isbn=978-92-9081-495-5 |page=320}} The bark is grey, either smooth or with fine vertical furrows.{{cite book|author=Palgrave, Keith Coates |title=Palgrave's Trees of Southern Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rg9bDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT2519 |year=2015 |publisher=Penguin Random House South Africa |isbn=978-1-920572-74-7 |page=2519}}
The leaves have short stalks and a pair of yellow linear stipules at the base, and are arranged alternately on slender, greyish twigs. They are bright green, up to {{convert|11|cm|in|1|abbr=on}} long, elliptical to lanceolate, with uneven bases and attenuated tips. There are glands at the tips of the marginal teeth. The flowers grow in clusters or singly in the axils of the leaves. They are unisexual, with male flowers being on a different tree from female flowers. They are yellowish-green and fragrant, and are followed by globular, fleshy fruit up to {{convert|2|cm|in|1|abbr=on}} in diameter which turn orangish-red as they ripen.
Distribution and habitat
Drypetes arguta is native to eastern Africa where its range extends from Tanzania and Zimbabwe, southwards to Mozambique, Eswatini, and South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal). It grows in forests and alongside water-courses, at elevations of up to {{convert|600|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}.{{cite web |url=https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=134460 |title=Drypetes arguta (Müll.Arg.) Hutch. |author=Hyde, M.A. |author2=Wursten, B.T. |author3=Ballings, P. |author4=Coates Palgrave, M. |work=Flora of Zimbabwe |accessdate=27 July 2019}} It is also a major constituent of the flora of the Southern African Sand Forest, a habitat consisting of woodland growing on ancient sand dunes located on the border between southern Mozambique and northern KwaZulu-Natal.{{cite web |title=Maputaland's Tembe Elephant National Park – a little known reserve with many natural secrets |url=http://www.africaelephants.com/ecology.htm | author=Matthews, Wayne |accessdate= 27 July 2019}}