Sideroxylon inerme (aMasethole or white milkwood, Afrikaans: wit-melkhout, Xhosa: Ximafana, Zulu: Umakhwelafingqane)[2] is a southern and eastern African coastal tree, with dense foliage, black berries and small, foetid, greenish flowers.

Sideroxylon inerme trees are scattered through the coastal woodlands and littoral forests of southern and eastern Africa, from the Cape Provinces of South Africa in the south to Somalia in the north, and on Aldabra, the Comoro Islands, and the Mozambique Channel Islands in the western Indian Ocean.

The milkwood is not endangered but it is one of South Africa's Protected Trees, which means that it is illegal to damage, move or destroy them.

[3] Sideroxylon inerme is a semi-coastal sturdy broadleaf evergreen tree with dense foliage, displays of white bisexual flowers and edible purplish-black berries.

The tree can reach 15 m.[citation needed] The milkwood has considerable value in traditional medicine and attracts birds, monkeys and other animals to its flowers and fruits : Speckled mousebirds eat the flowers ; birds, bats, monkeys and bush pigs eat the fruit.