Pairs of large stipules enclose each bud of the butterspoon tree, Cunonia capensis In South Africa occurs Cunonia capensis (Family Cunoniaceae), the butterspoon tree, so named because the shoot buds are enclosed within a pair of broad, spoon-shaped stipules. Leaves of this handsome plant are pinnately compound and opposite. This plant is also called red alder, referring to the wood, which resembles that of the northern hemisphere alder (Alnus, Family Betulaceae).

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