The Cache and the Park
The cache is located in the Pigeon Valley Park. The coordinates will take you to a large Natal Elm Tree which has a hollow trunk that resembles a chimney. Pigeon Valley is a Natural Heritage Park in Durban, South Africa. It was established to provide protection for the Natal White Stinkwood (Natal Elm) and other forest giants of the coastalclimax forest.[1] Another rare tree that occurs here is Oxyanthus pyriformis which is endemic to the Durban area and to Ongoye Forest. Pigeon Valley was developed as a Nature Reserve in 1989 and is about 10ha in extent.
The Natal Elm
Celtis mildbraedii is a species of forest tree in the Cannabaceae family. This species was previously assigned to the Ulmaceae family. These trees grow in limited areas of South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. They are also found in forested areas from West Africa to Sudan, DRC, Angola and Tanzania. Common names include Natal White Stinkwood,Red-fruited White-stinkwood and Natal Elm. This species is more common in Tropical Africa than in Southern Africa.
There are about twenty specimens in Pigeon Valley Natural Heritage Park, Durban, South Africa.[1] The southern-most specimen is found in Ilanda Wilds Nature Reserve inAmanzimtoti.[2][3]
The fruit of the tree turns red as it ripens but viable seed is difficult to find.[4] No Natal White Stinkwoods were available from plant nurseries in South Africa in 2009 suggesting that this tree species is not being propagated, despite its rarity in South Africa.[5]