Nuxia congesta aka Wild Elder

Nuxia congesta is a shrub or tree in the Stilbaceae family. Its native range spans tropical and southern Africa. It also reaches the southwestern Arabian Peninsula, including Saudi Arabia. In Africa, it grows from Guinea east to Ethiopia and Somalia. Its range extends south to Angola, Botswana and South Africa. It grows wild and also occurs in cultivation as an ornamental.

This woody plant usually keeps its leaves throughout the year. Some plants in Ethiopia lose their leaves for a season. The listed height is about 49 feet [15 metres]. The wider reported range is 10–82 feet [3–25 metres]. This range includes both shrub forms and tall trees. The trunk often twists and has deep lengthwise grooves. It measures about 0.7–3.3 feet [0.2–1 metre] across. The flowers have a pleasant scent, and bees pollinate them. Their display gives the plant value in ornamental planting.

Wild plants grow along upland woods and lower mountain forest edges. They also occur in bamboo zones and on rocky ridges. Some grow on hilltops above the forest boundary. There, they form part of the return to woodland. Their recorded elevation spans 4,921–8,202 feet [1,500–2,500 metres]. Kew places the species in the seasonally dry tropical biome. Useful Tropical Plants describes its sites as moist tropical regions. Those sites have mean yearly temperatures of 14–26°C. Annual rain totals range from 1,400 to 2,500 millimetres. The plant can grow on poor, rocky ground.

This species can help restore native woodland as a pioneer tree. It can send up many suckers after a forest fire. People collect its wood from wild trees for local use. They use it for building poles, fences and fuel. The branches also serve as sticks for starting fires. Accounts disagree on the wood's weight and hardness. One calls the pale wood soft; another describes hard, heavy wood. Fence posts made from it are reported to last well.

Local medicinal uses draw on both leaves and bark. People chew them or drink a boiled preparation for indigestion. This records a traditional use, not proof of benefit or safety. The source lists no known food uses or hazards. That does not establish that all parts are safe to eat.