Description
Buddleja saligna is a tree up to 10 m tall in warm moist areas but usually 4 to 5 metres in Highveld areas.
The false olive’s young stems are four-angled and covered with white velvety hairs. The older stems and trunks are creamy or grey to dark brown and fluted with the bark peeling in longitudinal strips.
The leaves are long and narrow – somewhat similar to the olive from which it gets its common name – but more textured. The leaf upper surface is hairless and dark green, the underside is whitish with prominently raised venation. The flowers are tiny, creamy white and borne in dense sprays usually at the ends of branches. The flowers have a lovely honey scent and appear from spring to summer (August- January). The seeds are minute, forming in small, hairy capsules which develop in the dried-out flowers. (October – March).
The plant is used for traditional medicinal purposes, the roots as a purgative and the leaves to treat coughs and colds. The wood is very fine-grained and was used to make small pieces of furniture. The straight branches were used to make fence posts. The false olive was used to make assegai handles. It also makes good fuel wood as it burns with intense heat. The large amounts of pollen and nectar it produces make it popular with bee farmers.
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