Cussonia spicata

Cussonia spicata, known as spiked cabbage tree, lowveld cabbage tree or common cabbage tree, is a tree in the family Araliaceae, which is native to the moister regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. It is cultivated as a garden plant in areas without extreme degrees of frost. It is one of the favorite foods of wild elephants.[1]

Spiked cabbage tree
Cussonia spicata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Apiales
Family: Araliaceae
Genus: Cussonia
Species:
C. spicata
Binomial name
Cussonia spicata

Description
Leaves

Larger specimens develop a sturdy trunk and a rounded, spreading canopy, and can reach a height of 15 meters. The attractive leaves grow from the end of thick branches to form rounded heads. The species name spicata means "spike-like", and suggests the arrangement of its flowers.[2]

Range

It occurs naturally from southern and eastern South Africa to the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia and northwards into tropical Africa.[2]

Ethnomedical uses

It has been used in traditional African medicine and its medicinal properties are being investigated.

gollark: If you really want I can make a metaclass for it.
gollark: We could probably just hardcode it that way, or put in `1 << 2` or something.
gollark: This is also valid I guess.
gollark: I'd prefer it if we had a helper function so it could be `WHERE permissions & permission('deploy bees')` or something.
gollark: It isn't particularly low-level that "numbers are composed of bits".

References
  1. Minute 6-7; April 5, 2009 episode)Naked Scientists
  2. Hankey, Andrew (December 2004). "Cussonia spicata Thunb". plantzafrica.com. SANBI. Retrieved 7 December 2015.


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