Ehretia rigida

Ehretia rigida
	Habit
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Boraginales
Family:	Boraginaceae
Genus:	Ehretia
Species:	E. rigida
Binomial name
	Ehretia rigida; ( Thunb.) Druce

Ehretia rigida (puzzle bush, also deurmekaarbos in Afrikaans = "confused/tangled bush"), is a small, multi-stemmed tree with a tangled growth habit belonging to the Boraginaceae, the borage family. It occurs over a wide range of habitat throughout the eastern part of South Africa, and in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

The species is deciduous, hardy and normally grows to about 5 meters tall. Branches are quite rigid, hence its specific name. Leaves are in tufts, leathery and rough with adpressed minute barbs along the margins. Almost invariably there are small pockets of hairs or

reniform and sculpted on the abaxial

surface. Each fruit contains 4 seeds.

The genus honours the botanist Georg Dionysius Ehret, a celebrated botanist and botanical illustrator of the 18th century.^[2]