Phyllocoptes eupadi Phyllocoptes eupadi Phyllocoptes eupadi is a mite that chemically induces a pouch gall to develop as a sub-spherical distortion rising up from the upper surface of the lamina of leaves of blackthorn shrubs "Prunus spinosa" and other "Prunus" spp. Synonyms are "Eriophyes padi" (Nalepa) and "Phytoptus padi prunianus" (Nalepa 1890). The gall's appearance on the upper surface is sub-spherical pustules, hairy and opening below, often clustering along the midrib, but also found over the whole leaf lamina surface and may vary in colour from pale yellow-green to deep red. The adult mite lives on sap, sucked from the cell tissues.
Strychnos spinosa Strychnos spinosa Strychnos spinosa is a tree indigenous to tropical and subtropical Africa. It produces, sweet-sour, yellow fruits, containing numerous hard brown seeds. Greenish-white flowers grow in dense heads at the ends of branches (Sep-Feb/Spring - summer). The fruits tend to appear only after good rains. It is related to the deadly "Strychnos nux-vomica", which contains strychnine. The smooth, hard fruit are large and green, ripen to yellow colour. Inside the fruit are tightly packed seeds, which may be toxic, surrounded by a fleshy, brown, edible covering. Animals such as baboon, monkeys, bushpig, nyala and eland eat the fruit. The