The pompon tree is one of the best known and well-loved indigenous trees, tough enough to be used as a street tree and small enough to fit into most gardens.

Its natural home is the eastern part of South Africa where it grows on the margins of forests, wooded hill slopes and in stony kloofs.

When planting, choose a sunny position and prepare it well by digging a large hole of about 1 m x 1 m, adding lots of compost and bone meal. Water the young tree regularly during the summer months until it is well established, which usually takes about two years.

This is a wonderful tree for the garden, fast growing, fairly drought resistant once established and frost hardy.

Placing a thick mulch of compost around the base of the tree helps to prevent water from running away, keeps the soil moist and cool, suppresses weed growth and slowly releases nutrients into the soil.

The trees grow fast and reach their full height within 4 to 5 years, flowering from about their second year. The trees can be lightly pruned if necessary, young trees becoming very bushy if the leader is trimmed. Flowers are produced on the previous year's growth, so any pruning should be done after flowering.

The smooth, simple leaves are bright green, sometimes with a slight bluish tinge on the upper side. The veins of the leaves are a translucent yellow colour, forming very clear patterns as they run through the leaves. The leaves are usually scattered up the branches or crowded at the ends of the branches. In very cold areas the trees are deciduous, but in warmer climates like Cape Town they only lose their leaves for a short time at the end of winter.

When in flower at Christmas it looks like a giant candy floss, as the tree transforms into a cloud of soft pink balls.

The new flower buds look like lollipops, with big round heads on long thin stems at the end of the branches. The green heads pop open with the many small flowers in tight bunches inside, looking like pink fluff balls. For about three weeks the tree flowers in profusion.

After flowering, the green cup shaped bracts that held the flowers, become hard and brown, remaining on the tree for many months. These dried "flowers" can be used for decorations, model building and children's games.