Trees of South Africa

Facts and where they are found

The baobab’s flowers are big and white and open at night There is an enormous baobab in Zambia that is believed
and produce a pungent scent to attract the nocturnal bats to be haunted by a python. The story tells that before the
to feed on their nectar. white man’s arrival, a python lived in the hollow trunk of
Its fruit can grow up to 30 cm (1 foot) in length, the tree and was worshipped by the local people. It
containing vitamin C and tartaric acid. When soaked in answered their prayers of rain, good harvests and
water it flavours a refreshing drink, or when ground up hunting.
Name The first white hunter to see the python shot it, leading to
and roasted it can be used to make a drink similar to
coffee. The pollen is used to make glue, and the leaves dire consequences. People claim to hear a low, continuous
Baobab (Adansonia digitata)
can be eaten when boiled. Its bark is pounded and used hissing sound on quiet nights coming from this tree.
Other names to weave baskets and mats, make rope, paper and cloth.
One of the biggest baobabs in the Kafue National Park is
Monkey-bread tree, upside-down tree, bottle tree, Baobab Uses named Kondanamwali, meaning ‘the tree that eats
baobab, tabaldi and boab maidens’. The story goes that four young maidens lived in
Most trees die when bark is striped from their lower trunk. the shade of the baobab, and the tree fell in love with
Description The baobab, however, not only survives this but grows them. Once they reached puberty, they sought husbands.
new bark where stripped. The bark is used for its fibre to This made the tree jealous. One night during a
All species of baobab trees are deciduous, meaning they make cloth, rope, baskets, musical instrument strings and thunderous storm, the baobab opened up and locked the
shed their leaves annually. This tree is very unique in its waterproof hats. Fresh baobab leaves can also be eaten, maidens inside itself. There is now a rest camp built in the
appearance and can grow to great sizes, ranging from 5 to and has a vegetable-like quality similar to spinach. It also tree’s branches, and it is said that the maiden’s cries can
20 m in height. Carbon dating has shown that they can has medicinal uses for treating insect bites, asthma, be heard on stormy nights.
live as long as 3000 years. A very old and hollow baobab bladder and kidney disease and other ailments. The fruits
in Zimbabwe is so big it can hold up to 40 people inside and seeds are flavourful and nutritious, and enjoyed by Along the Limpopo River, local people believe that a young
its trunk. Some baobabs, have been utilised as buildings numerous species. boy will grow into a big man when washed in water that
by humans over the years, such as prisons, shops, has been used to soak baobab bark. Tribes in Limpopo
houses, bus shelters and storage barns. Its trunk varies Baobab Native Legends wash their baby boys’ toys in water used to soak the bark
from a pinkish-grey to copper in colour, and is smooth and of a baobab so their sons will grow big and strong.
glossy in texture. When its leaves shed, the baobab looks Tribes living along the Zambezi River tell that when the It is also believed that women who live in areas where
like a tree that has been planted upside-down – its finger- world was young and new, baobabs stood proud, tall and many baobabs grow will have more children than women
like branches spreading like roots. These trees do not die straight but then became arrogant towards other growths. who live in other areas. This has been proven to have a
easily, surviving fires and growing new bark if they have This angered the gods and they uprooted the baobabs, scientific explanation, as baobab leaves are eaten and
been stripped. When they eventually die, they collapse shoving them back into the ground upside down. high in vitamin C. The leaf thereby makes up for
from rotting on the inside and leave mounds of fibres Their flowers are now haunted by evil spirits, causing nutritional deficiencies in the women’s diets, resulting in
behind. rather than simply die. Because of their size and anyone who picks a flower to be killed by a lion. People in them being more fertile.
age, an old baobab tree can form and sustain its own other regions, however, believe that drinking water used
ecosystem. Numerous insects and animals, big and small, to soak baobab seeds will serve as protection from being Where they are found
are dependent on the baobab. Baboons feed on the attacked by a crocodile
baobab’s fruit, bush babies and fruit bats drink its nectar In South Africa, baobabs can be found growing in Limpopo
and pollinate its flowers, birds nest in its branches, and Another story of the baobab’s strange appearance tells near the Zoutpansberg range. The town of Messina in
elephants have been reported to flatten entire trees and that the god Thora did not want baobabs growing in his Limpopo is said to be a ‘baobab town’. This tree is widely
eat them. The San people believe that the baobab does garden, throwing them over the wall of Paradise to the distributed in belts across the African continent, but can
not simply grow as other trees do, but disappear after Earth. The tree landed upside-down, but did not stop also be found in Madagascar, Ceylon, India and Australia.
falling to the ground when old and fully grown, like a growing. They prefer to grow in arid, hot and sandy plains.
magical tree. A young version of this tree looks distinctly
different to an older version.
 Marula Tree
Name Marula Tree Uses Where they are found

Marula Tree (Scelerocarya birrea) A drink can be made from boiled marula fruit skin, or a The marula tree can be found in South Africa in
The marula tree has a history that dates back thousands coffee substitute can be made from burnt skin. The wood Mpumalanga’s Lowveld and the Kruger National Park. It
of years. Archaeological evidence has shown that this tree of the tree is soft and used for carving. Rope and light prefers to grow in bushveld or savanna vegetation on the
has been a nutritional source since about 10 000 BC. The brown dye can be made from the bark. The bark also low slopes of plateaus. These trees usually grow alongside
marula fruit and nut are rich in minerals and vitamins, contains antihistamines and is therefore used for umbrella thorn trees (Acacia), baobabs, fever trees, dark-
and it is estimated that 24 million marula fruits were cleansing by steeping the bark in boiling water and green mopane trees and tall grasses.
eaten in Zimbabwe’s Pomongwe Cave. inhaling the steam.
During the ancient times, this fruit was depended upon by To treat dysentery and diarrhea, a piece of bark is Marula Tree Interesting Facts
people of South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. Being one squashed to a pulp, mixed with cold water and swallowed.
of the continent’s botanical treasures, there are many It is also used as a preventative to malaria. The green Marula trees are dioecious, meaning they have either
legends about this tree and its many uses – including its leaves of the marula tree is eaten to alleviate heartburn. male or female genders. The Venda believe that the bark
bark, fruit, kernels and nuts. It is best known for ‘driving Large saturniid caterpillars and the larvae of cerambycid can be used to tell the gender of an unborn child. Bark
elephants mad’, as they eat the slightly fermented fruit wood boring beetles are taken from the marula tree and infusions of a male tree is taken by a pregnant woman if
from the ground. roasted. There are one or two flavourful nuts inside the she wants a son, and from the female tree is she wishes
flesh of these insects which are rich in protein. The oil is for a daughter. If a child of the opposite gender is born, he
Description also used as a skin cosmetic. or she is said to be special as they have defied the spirits.

The marula tree is deciduous and blooms from September Marula Tree Fruit
to November. It produces fruit that is high in vitamin C
from January to March. This tree can reach a height of 18 The green marula fruit is the size of a small plum, and
m, and its fruits and leaves are enjoyed by the waterbuck, very juicy and flavourful. It is high in vitamin C and can
warthog, elephant, giraffe, kudu and elephant. The marula be eaten fresh. It is also cooked and used to produce
tree can be found in South Africa in KwaZulu-Natal, juices, jams and alcoholic drinks.
stretching as far north as Ethiopia. They grow in sandy
loam soils and in woodlands of various sorts
 Umbrella Thorn Uses

Umbrella Thorn
The wood of the umbrella tree is used for wagon wheels,
furniture, firewood and fence posts. Its branches are
sometimes used to make temporary pens and cages. The
tree is planted in Africa and India as a method of
reclaiming dunes. Its bark is used to make string in
Description Tanzania, and apparently a good source of tannins. The
tree gum is edible and chewed as a poor man’s gum. In
This tree is the archetypal shape of a thorn tree, shaped some parts of Africa the pods were once strung as
like an umbrella. It is a slow growing tree, reaching necklaces, and the bendy roots were used by nomads as
heights from 5 m to 20 m and a span of 8 m to 13 m. The frameworks for temporary shelters. The Senegalese also
bark is greyish-black in colour and is rough to the touch. used the roots for spear shafts, and people from Lake
Its thin, white thorns grow in pairs of one straight and one Chad used it as stems for fish spears.
hooked thorn, and its leaves are small giving the tree a The pods of the umbrella tree contain many nutrients and
soft appearance. The umbrella thorn tree blooms in is browsed by game and livestock. Baboons, vervet
December, carrying thick, creamy white spheres of florets, monkeys and other animals eat the new green pods which
which form in bunches on older wood. Its pods are curly have fallen to the ground. The dried pods make good
and a light gold-brown in colour. Flowering can be fodder for grazers in the desert. As its leaves are also fed
sporadic, however, depending on the rains. on, the umbrella tree is one of the prominent dry season
Many animals depend on the umbrella thorn tree for food fodder trees in the Sahara-Sahelian region.
and shelter. Various bird species nest under their wide
canopies, and animals browse on their leaves and thorns Umbrella Thorn Habitat
when soft and new. Its thorns harden with age,
preventing over-browsing. The umbrella tree grows in arid regions, being drought
resistant and surviving in areas with an annual rainfall as
Umbrella Thorn Flowers and Fruit low as 40 mm to 1200 mm, and dry seasons lasting one
month to a year. This tree can be found on dunes and
The pods of the umbrella thorn tree are eaten by wild and rocky slopes to rich soiled valleys. It avoids waterlogged
domestic animals as well as humans, at times. These terrains, growing in saline and gypseous soils but
twisty, gold-brown pods fall to the ground unopened in flourishing in alkaline soil.
large quantities. Animals such as the kudu, impala, rhino
and elephant enjoy feeding on the pods, distributing its Where they are found
seeds through their dung. Sometimes the pods open
before falling to the ground, scattering their seeds from In South Africa, the umbrella tree can be found growing in
the tree. the Free State, Limpopo, North West, Gauteng,
Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Cape. It
has a wide distribution and occurs in Mozambique,
Botswana and Swaziland as well. It is said that this tree
indicates areas of rich soil and good grasses, and has
been described by Egyptians and Arabians more than
2000 years ago.