Calling merrily this morning, a Laughing Dove attracted my attention to the
abundance of berries on the old tree on the field below my house.
I have lived here for ten years and have never seen the Waterberry Tree so
heavily laden with fruit. The children in the nearby school love these berries and can be seen filling their empty lunch tins in the afternoons after school. This year will be a feast!
The Waterberry tree is also know locally as the Umdoni. (Syzygium cordatum)
Wikipedia elaborates on the many uses this tree has to offer: The fleshy fruit is slightly acidic in flavour and is eaten by monkeys, bush-babies and birds. The berries are also used to sometimes make an alcoholic drink. The powdered bark is used as a fish poison. In central Africa the tree is known as a remedy for stomach ache and diarrhea. It is also used to treat respiratory ailments and tuberculosis.
