Groendoring – Balanities maughamii
- Young branches have zig-zag appearance, trunk often had distinctive grooves
- Forked spines ( one usually longer than the other), leaves with 2 leaflets
- Fruit: Nov-Jan
- Seeds yield good quality, tasteless oil, that rivals olive oil
- Oil burns with a bright flame and therefore the dry kernels can be used as torches
- Fruits are lethal to fish and snails (1 fruit will kill all snails in 301 of water), therefore it is an effective use against bilharzia
- An emetic is prepared from a decoction of the bark
- Witch doctors ward off evil spirits with froth made by beating roots and bark together and soaking it in water. The ritual is to lick the froth 3 times a day and throw the remainder over the hut roof so that it spills on the hut entrance
- A bath taken in an infusion of bark is stimulating and exhilarating
- Wood is had and of good quality.
