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From January to April these trees bear small, green, stalked flowers; in short dense spikes, making up a large, branched inflorescence at the end of the trunk or branches. Flowers are followed by fleshy and purple-maroon fruits, which mature in May to June.

The flowers are pollinated by an enormous variety of insects that have wings e.g. bees, wasps, flies. When they are in full flower it sounds like a beehive. The flies and insects are attracted by the flowers' smelly nectar. The flowers may have lots of pollen too. The seed are not as easily parasitized by pests as Acacia and Rhus species. The birds feed on the ripened, black seed.

The tamboti is a protected tree in South Africa.

It is not suitable as firewood because the smoke is toxic and will cause diarrhoea if meat roasted on the coals is eaten. ... Although the latex is very toxic to humans it does have traditional medicinal uses, for example, a drop of the fresh latex is applied to a painful tooth as painkiller. The bark is used to treat stomach pains but large dosages will cause damage to the internal organs.