Toad Tree – 5 Seeds

Toad Tree (Tabernaemontana elegans) is an attractive, fast growing, small to medium deciduous tree growing 1.5 – 5m tall, but occasionally reaching 12 m. This tree, with its unusual fruits attracts birds and insects. It is frost sensitive and requires full sun and modest water.

The bark is pale brown, corky and deeply fissured. Injured parts produce white latex. The tree has large, glossy leaves, fragrant white flowers and produces large fruit borne in pairs. The fruits are edible and the tree also has medicinal and other uses. The coagulated milky sap is used as a styptic, and root infusions are drunk as an aphrodisiac as well as a remedy for lung ailments and stomach ache.

The fruit are subglobose, with a green skin that is covered in pale warts. Each fruit is 60 to 70 mm long by 40 to 50 mm wide, with two lateral ridges and one dorsal ridge. The fruit are leathery to woody, with a wall that is 5 – 15mm thick. When mature, they split open along one side, often while still on the tree, displaying the orange pulp inside. Each fruit with its green, warty skin resembles a toad, giving rise to the common name toad tree. Embedded in the orange pulp are numerous dark brown seeds.

Common names: toad tree (Eng.); laeveldse paddaboom (Afr.); umKhahlwana, umKhadlu (Zulu); muchanga (Shona)

Growing Toad Tree

• Soak the seeds in lukewarm water for 24 – 48 hours.
• Sow the seeds in a mixture of potting mix and sand.
• Place the container in a warm area.
• Keep the growing medium constantly moist, but not wet.
• Optimal temperature for germination is about 25°C.