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| Category: Tree |
| Family: Rutaceae (Citrus) |
| Origin: South Africa (Africa) |
| Flower Color: Pink |
| Bloomtime: Summer |
| Height: 20-30 feet |
| Width: 20-30 feet |
| Exposure: Full Sun |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Medium Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 20-25° F |
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Calodendrum capense (Cape Chestnut) - A slow growing, semi-deciduous or deciduous (depending on winter temperatures) 30 to 40 plus foot tall tree with a trunk with smooth light gray and a large rounded crown that can reach a similar width having branches bearing 3 to 8 inch long ovate shaped leaves that are glossy deep green color and have smooth undulating margins. In late spring and early summer appear the showy spikes of vibrant pink flowers held in upright terminal panicles that extend above the foliage, often covering the entire plant. These flowers are lightly fragrant with five 2 inch long narrow light pink to rose pink petals that alternate with five petal-like staminodes that are pink with maroon dots. Best in full sun with regular summer watering. More tender when young but mature trees are hardy to short duration temperatures to 20-25 degrees F. Protect from the wind and best in deep loamy soils. A bit variable but when happy it is one of the showiest of ornamental trees and its flowers are very attractive to bees. Cape Chestnut is native to a large area of south eastern Africa from the equatorial highlands of Kenya south through Tanzania, Zimbabwe to the coastal forests from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town in South Africa. The name of the genus comes from the Greek words 'kalos', meaning "beautiful" and 'dendron' meaning "tree". The specific epithet means "from the Cape" as it was here that this tree was first described Carl Peter Thunberg (1743-1828), a pupil of Linnaeus and called "the father of South African botany" first saw it in flower at Grootvaderbosch in South Africa. The tree was named "Cape Chestnut" by the William Burchell because of the resemblance of the flowers and fruit to the horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum). Peter Riedel chronicled that Dr. Francesco Franceschi (Orazio Fenzi) first noted this plant already growing in Santa Barbara upon his arrival in 1895 and was offering it for sale in his nursery by 1900. Riedel wrote in his Plants For Extra-tropical Regions that "It is undoubtably one of the handsomest flowering trees we have and should be employed more as a streetside tree." This plant does seem to like some warmer temperatures and grows best a little ways from the coast with largest specimens noted in such places as Santa Paula, Pasadena and at the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia. We grew this beautiful tree from 1986 until 2004 and still have a beautiful specimen on the nursery grounds along Hollister Ave that regularly has people inquiring about it. Unfortunately this plant in the citrus family is a listed host of the Asian Citrus Psyllid, which is a carrier of the deadly (to citrus) huanglongbing citrus greening disease. For this reason its movement around California is subject to the same quarantines as citrus, which likely will make this beautiful plant increasingly hard to find in any nursery.
This information about Calodendrum capense displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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