Boraginaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Cordia caffra

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitDeciduous Tree

GrowthMedium

Older plants can tolerate at least a mild frost^[1]. Prefers a position in light shade, though it also grows well in full sun^[1]. Young trees grow fairly quickly and can reach fruiting size within 7 years of sowing the seed^[1].

Propagation

Seed - germinates fairly quickly^[1]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Cordia+caffra>

Pollinators

Insects

References

[1]PlantZAfrica.com — http://www.plantzafrica.com ↩︎An excellent site giving detailed descriptions and uses of many S. African plants.
[2]Flora Zambesiaca — http://apps.kew.org/efloras/fz/intro.html ↩︎An excellent online flora of plants from the Zambezi River basin. It lists a number of the plant uses as well as the habitats and botanical descriptions of the plants.
[3]African Flowering Plants Database — Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques. · http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/recherche.php ↩︎Contains information on over 150,000 plant names (including synonyms) giving a description and habitat, plus a distribution map.
[4]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
[5]Report on the Natal Forests — Fourcade H.G. · Wm. ;, Natal · 1889 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎Contains a list of the trees of Natal, with a brief listing of their uses, including many traditional uses. The report can be downloaded from the Internet.