Dombeya rotundifolia
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Dombeya rotundifolia (Hochst.) Planch., Dikbas or Wild Pear, is a small deciduous tree with dark grey to blackish deeply fissured bark, found in Southern Africa and northwards to central and eastern tropical Africa.
Trees are normally 5-6m tall with a single well-defined trunk, growing on deep soils, river banks and rocky places. Leaves and flower buds are densely covered in stellate hairs. One of the first species to flower in spring, often with Erythrina lysistemon. Flowers are abundant and sweet-scented, usually white but occasionally pale pink. Small (3-4mm diameter) inconspicuous round fruits form at the centre of the brown, dead, persistent petals. Wood is bluish-grey, dense, hard and extremely tough, and was sought after during the era of building wagons and carriages.
Wild Pear belongs to the family Sterculiaceae along with Hermannia, Sterculia and about 45 other genera. Dombeya is a genus confined to Africa and Madagascar with about 80 species. Most of the cultivated Dombeyas are shrubs with attractive pink or white flowers such as Dombeya burgessiae Gerr. ex Harv. Dombeya autumnalis Verdoorn is closely related to D. rotundifolia and was first described when its habit of flowering during autumn became apparent.
Dombeya commemorates Joseph Dombey (1742-1794), a French botanist and explorer in South America, involved in the notorious "Dombey affair," embroiling scientists and governments of France, Spain, and England for more than two years.
