Orange Milk Tree

madagascariensis: of Madagascar

Small to medium-sized shrubby tree with distinctly russet young leaves and branchlets. Bark brown, rough and scaly, with orange sap when damaged. Leaves opposite, elliptic, up to 20 cm long, dark shiny green above, densely covered in rusty hairs below; margin entire. Young leaves at stem apex flattened together; hence the common name "praying hands". Flowers in dense, branched, terminal heads, creamy-white, hairy inside, with glandular dots near the apex, sweetly scented. Fruit in clusters, 2-4 mm in diameter, greenish-orange to red when ripe.

Frequent in suitable habitats

As for the genus