Psychotria is Greek for vivifying, meaning to give or endow with life and refers to the several supposed healing properties of some species; capensis means of the Cape. The wood is hard and fine-grained making a good general purpose timber. It is yellowish brown in colour and has a beautiful finish when varnished. In the Amazon, many species of Psychotria are used by shamans and indigenous people for a variety of medicinal purposes.

Psychotria kirkii synonymously known as Psychotria zombamontana, Grumilea kirkii and Uragoga zombamontana is a South African indigenous species from the KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Mpumalanga Provinces. It is commonly known as Nodule-leaved bird-berry. Psychotria kirkii grows into a shrub of up to 6 meters tall. It has dot-like nodules on its leaves. During summer it bears creamy-white to yellow-green flowers.