Black Stinkwood

Black Stinkwood; Ocotea bullata

Ocotea bullata occurs naturally in most of the high forests of South Africa, from the kloofs of Table Mountain to the mountain forests of Limpopo, and it is at its best in the Knysna forests. According to Palmer and Pitman, it is seldom found in the forests on the Eastern Cape, where sneezewood occurs instead. It thrives in deep soils in kloofs. It has always been sought after for furniture and the bark collected for medicinal purposes. Only stumps and few saplings remain in Newlands forest (Table Mountain) and the bark is heavily stripped.
Africans use this tree medicinally, mostly the bark is used as a remedy for headache. The bark is used in various ways by traditional healers for urinary diseases and as an emetic for emotional and nervous disorders. The bark can also be drunk as tea or applied as steam to treat pimples. It is one of the top ten widely traded plants in South Africa.

More: https://www.plantzafrica.com/plantnop/ocoteabull.htm

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