Sapium ellipticum

A small to medium sized deciduous tree occasionally reaching 20m. The trunk may be crooked, drooping branches arise low down giving a spreading crown.
BARK: light brown to almost black, rough, branches tending to droop . The white latex is only seen when young parts are cut.
LEAVES: long, oval, dark above, paler below, turning dark red before falling, to 14 cm long, tip pointed, edgeirregularly toothed, midrib and veins raised below, about 10 pairs side veins; base narrow or rounded to a 1-2 cm stalk.
FLOWERS: no petals or sepals. Flowers catkin-like in spikes 5-10 cm long, the upper part with tiny male flowers each with yellow stamens; 2-5 rounded female flowers at the base, larger, on longer stalks.
FRUIT: 2-part red capsules about 1 cm across, topped with remains of style. The capsule finally opens to set free seeds. Seeds are often eaten by insect larvae.

Source of firewood and charcoal.
Medicine: leaves and roots. http://www.worldagroforestry.org/treedb/AFTPDFS/Sapium_ellipticum.PDF
Wood is used to make farm tools and tool handles
An ornamental tree.
Agroforestry: leaves are source of fodder to animals.

A tree of secondary scrub, fringing forest and forest edges extending from Ethiopia to South Africa. It grows throughout Uganda in savanna, thickets and along streams. It is widespread and often abundant in open forest, larger gaps and at forest edges as it is light demanding. In Kampala, jumping seed tree can be found along Lumumba avenue, Malcom X avenue, within Uganda Golf course club, Makerere University among other places.

Coppicing, pollarding, lopping.