Small spheres composed of tiny quartz crystals are common in the Ypresian/Lutetian freshwater limestone at Black Crow, Sperrgebiet, Namibia. From the beginning they were thought to be the inner parts of some sort of fruit, but the lack of structure rendered the material unidentifiable. Recently a specimen was found which retains the outer surface of the endocarp of the fruit over most of its surface, but which is broken at one pole to reveal the inner locular structure. The fossil is attributed to Celtis, a fruit tree which is common in warm latitudes of the globe. Long known to occur in the Neogene of Africa, the Black Crow record extends its representation in the continent into the Palaeogene, some 30 million years earlier than the previous oldest known occurrence (Napak, Uganda 19-20 Ma) and reveals that the genus was present not only in Eurasia and the Americas during the Palaeogene, but also in Africa. This discovery adds fuel to the debate about the geographic origin of the genus Celtis which is thought by some palaeobotanists to have evolved in post-Cretaceous times but whether it originated in the northern or southern hemisphere remains a moot point. Keywords: Eocene, Celtidaceae, Endocarp, Locule, Palaeobotany, Biogeography.