April 1992
146

JOURNAL OF THE
TREE SOCIETY OF ZIMBABWE
P.O BOX 2128
HARARE

MATABELELAND CALENDAR
Sunday 5th April 1992. Just off the tarred Matopos circular drive (between the Scenic Drive and the Lower Outspan) is a beautiful "secret" valley full of trees, and also a perfect spot for our picnic. This can be a morning or all-day outing as you wish. It is envisaged that during the afternoon we can walk from the Lower Outspan to Rhodes' Grave – the original route, passing between trees at the start and on to the View of the World. Meet at Retreat (lifts already arranged) at 8.30 a.m. – and bring the necessary eats/drinks/chairs. It should be good.
Wednesday 15th April 1992. This month you will B'MEWsed (Blake’s Mabukawene Evening Walk) as Ian and Margaret will be away. Meet at Mabukawene, off Chipping Way, Burnside at 5.00 p.m.
Weekend Thursday 30th April to Sunday 3rd May, 1992 – (over the Workers Day holiday) – a really exciting weekend open to Bulawayo and Harare, (and?) members – to be spent in and around the Good Hope Country Club in the Turk Mine district. From Bulawayo – (on the Airport/Queens Road) about 58 km (tar) to Turk Mine (fill up with petrol) turn right into WesseIs/Gloag Road for 7 km, right to Good Hope (2 km) – follow signboards. From the North – on the Bulawayo road from Gweru (fill up with petrol at Shangani) and proceed to just beyond the 99 km peg and turn right into WesseIs Road (there is a good rendezvous spot at 95 km at the Parinari Picnic Site). Proceed along WesseIs Road (past Gloag School) for 28 km on good gravel, then turn left to Good Hope – 2 km. It is envisaged that we arrive ± lunchtime on Thursday. Petrol supplies are erratic over holiday/ Sundays so please keep tanks full whenever there is a chance!
Friday will be spent at Gwampa Forest Reserve (mainly Kalahari sand) about 60 km on tar from Turk Mine and into the forest on either side of the main road.
Saturday will be spent at Tom Goddard's Endura Ranch at the junction of the Shangani/Umsangwa Rivers. Route: out to Inyati, turn right; turn left into the "Old Hunters Road" alongside the Mambo Hills (a mini-Matopos) – approximately 60 km on good gravel road.
Walks on Dennis Streak’s Robins Farm in which Good Hope Country Club is situated will fill spare time on Thursday and Sunday. The Club is in a perfect setting with bed/mattress accommodation – one room with toilet for 6 people and one room with toilet for 10 people – plus the usual toilet/ablution facilities for visiting cricket/bowls/tennis teams. Charges at $10:00 each per night and availability of braai packs only /fires/bar – bring your own bread rolls and provisions for lunches and breakfasts.
There are beautiful camping/caravan spots under deep shade inside the security fence. We need to know numbers (maybe up to 35 members) by mid-April. For more information and booking, phone Ken Blake (51384 bus.) Bulawayo or Maureen Silva-Jonas
(759711 bus.) Harare – and we will try and fill 1928 B/D and 1929 A for Fiona!
Wednesday 13th May 1992. We revert back to McHEW with Ian at Hillside dams at 5 p.m.
Sunday 7th June 1992. To Mike Wood's Glencurragh Farm, 75 km out and beyond Nyamandhlovu and to the northeast end of the farm. Meet at the Blake’s home, Glenville – where we can sort out transport – at 8.30 a.m.
Wednesday 17th June 1992. McHEW at Hillside dams at 5.00 p.m.

MARCH McHEW
Anacardiaceae was the subject this month and we were told that it means "like a heart" presumably denoting the fruit. The 3 photocopies were of the Lannea schweinfurthii – the false Marula compared with the real thing, Sclerocarya birrea and Lannea discolor with its different colours top and bottom of the leaves.
Geoff put his oar in and we all listened diligently, and Charles was also drawn into the discussion.
Thank you, Ian, that really was a worthwhile evening – even l might remember something.
KEN BLAKE

MATABELELAND NOTES
Khami Waterworks – the March Outing
A mini-Matopos only 20 km on tar from Bulawayo seemed a bit far-fetched – but so it was!
As we had visitors and new-eys I donned my mortar¬board right at the car park and started the lectures Albizia amara (one heavy with pods – the other none at all), Terminalia sericea (the silver leaf), Ziziphus mucronata, Combretum hereroense (one hairy, the other glabrous). A fruiting Bridelia mollis, Commiphora mollis, Croton gratissimus, Pterocarpus rotundifolius (a good one this – the leaves round, just like me), Ozoroa insignis, Pouzolzia mixta where the leaves stick together, green to white. Sclerocarya birrea with fallen Marula all around, Grewia flavescens and Grewia monticola (showing the two donkey-berry bushes side-by-side) and a really gorgeous Ficus abutilifolia doing everything right!
After this initial burst of enthusiasm (and 35°C) things reverted back to a normal tree outing. And we climbed over a rocky outcrop to show Dr. Ron Barry (a visitor from America doing a 9-month study of Dassie allied to the Black Eagle survey) the same vegetation as he finds in Matopos. Commiphora marlothii (green paperbark), Albizia tanganyicensis (red paperbark), Aloe excelsa, Myrothamnus flabellifolius (resurrection plant), Barleria albostellata bringing back unhappy mem¬ories for him of the rising sneezing powder, until we discovered the beautiful white flowers standing proud. Elephantorrhiza goetzei, Azanza garckeana and its lovely Ndebele name: Uxakuxaku, Pavetta eylesii, the pealing bark Pavetta on good form, Ochna glauca with the very noticeable growing points, Ficus tettensis, Maytenus heterophylla subsp. puberula and of course Pseudolachnostylis maprouneifolia.
The sight of a full Khami dam (even if non-U water) was a delightful surprise to most of us, but the avid fisherman had chased away the expected birdlife. We got excited with the unusual Euphorbia espinosa (the "e" making it "no thorns”), Euphorbia matabelensis and Euphorbia griseola – to make a nice hat trick!
By now the heat was beginning to take its toll, but we pressed on, and certainly Ian still had enthusiasm when ha burst out of the bundu proudly holding the Matopos honeysuckle, Turraea fischeri – a real bonus! As the soil changed, so we came to Colophospermum mopane, Rhus lancea, Acacia nilotica, Acacia karroo, Acacia arenaria, Acacia fleckii (a Charles’ special), Acacia galpinii, Acacia gerrardii, Acacia rehmanniana, and with thorns scattered everywhere Acacia ataxacantha, Erythrina latissima, Dombeya rotundifolia, Gardenia volkensii, and a new one for us – Terminalia brachystemma.
On the way back we all made a beeline for the deep shade of a Combretum imberbe with many delicate four-winged pods covering the ground, and Ian explained why the Psydrax livida shouldn't stump us, and why the Lannea schweinfurthii is called the false Marula. It was then a dash for the cars – and Sustenance. When the card was read out, it was discovered that we had mounted up 87 species – and even more amazing was the fact that several of our expected usuals were missing!
A good outing enjoyed by 25 members and friends, to a new area, which must be visited again – especially as we were sorrowfully waved off by a troop of baboons!
KEN BLAKE
(Please share your secrets about Psydrax livida and Lannea schweinfurthii with us too. Ed).

BOTANICAL GARDEN WALK – MARCH
This month Bob kindly agreed to take us through some of the economically important trees growing in the garden. Trees, which we looked at include those whose products are used in many areas and those which may be poisonous to man or livestock. Before looking at the species growing in the garden it is worthwhile to understand why plants produce poisons and the types of poisons that occur in most plants.
In most cases, poison is produced as a feeding deterrent, to stop animals from eating the plant. In plants that rely on animals for seed transportation, it is common to find that the parts of the plant are poisonous during early development and its concentration is gradually lowered as the plant part matures. Upon ripening, the level of poison is too low to cause any serious damage. This is seen in the berries of Lantana camara a noxious weed that can be found in this country.
The types of feeding deterrents in plants have become more complicated and effective as plants evolve from being generalized to being specialised. Tannin is found in most archaic plants e.g. the custard apple tree. Tannin combines with protein and makes the protein difficult to break down. Solanine and denissine are deterrents found in plants such as potatoes. Although we can break down Solanine in potatoes, high levels are dangerous. Thus eating potatoes that are green, particularly by children, can cause illness, as the levels of Solanine are high. Strophanthinin and ouabain found in Acokanthera speeds up the heart rate and the result will be death by heart failure. Pyrethroids found in Asteraceae (daisy family) affect the nervous system; so effective are these chemicals that we have learnt to extract them and use them to prepare insecticides. Some deterrents as those found in pulses interfere with enzyme action in the body. They can be effective on a target group of animals or a wide spectrum of animals. We looked at Albizia versicolor. The young pod is poisonous to cattle but the mature pods are not. Leucaena sp. leaves are poisonous to cattle.
Erythrophleum suaveolens (Family Caesalpinioideae) is of more interest to us as it is poisonous to people. In most areas in Africa it is used to determine whether or not a person is guilty when accused of breaking a law – known as trial by ordeal. Law in most countries now forbids it. In the above practise, the accused is given a piece of bark to eat. If he dies he is guilty; if he lives he is innocent! The poison is called erythropein, a severe gastro¬intestinal irritant and cardiac depressant, which cause death, by heart failure.
Edible fruit trees in the commercial tree section of the gardens include the Pachota nut tree originally from South America that produces the Pachota nut. To avoid getting an upset stomach, the Pachota nuts should be roasted before eating.
Chrysophyllum a member of the family Sapotaceae produces spherical fruits, yellow when mature, which are edible. Macadamia nuts come from a tree that is a member of the Proteaceae and originates in Australia. These nuts have a pleasant taste when one can get them out of their shell and roast them properly. The loquat Eriobotrya produces a yellow fruit, which like the fig contains a lot of protein from the insects that inhabit the fruits.
Cassava, which belongs to the Euphorbiaceae, is grown in many African countries and here for local consumption. The tuber of cassava, Manihot esculenta, is rich in calcium and vitamin C. It is interesting though to note that Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is present in the tuber. The chemical causes heart failure.
We also looked at the tea plant, Camellia sinensis of family Theaceae. It is said to have originated in SE China. The leaves are boiled with water and the liquid is drunk. The leaves contain caffeine, polyphenols and essential oils.
Ornamental plants looked at include the road tree Spathodea or the flame tree, widespread in Uganda and the rest of West Africa. Fernandoa magnifica a member of the family Bignoniaceae has bright orange flowers with a yellow centre. It is pollinated by bats and has nectar appealing to most animals including man.
Other interesting trees include the Jojoba tree that has revolutionized the cosmetic industry. The oil extracted from this tree has replaced the oil from the sperm whale used in the manufacture of shampoo, skin lotion and make-up. This makes the sperm whale safe until man finds another reason to exploit it. Bixa, family Bixaceae has red seeds and dye is extracted from the seeds to colour foodstuffs e.g. margarine yellow.
Ceiba pentandra, the kapok tree from tropical America, and Africa and India, now cultivated widely throughout the tropics for its kapok fibre, is important in providing pillow stuffing.
Fran Mutapi

SS RANCH – Sunday 15th March. When Meg produced a list of no less than 91 species and asked that we add to it, my first thought was 'Kabunga'. The fact that a further 37 species were added to the list shows what a remarkable and interesting spot it is. 128 tree species, a hissing puff adder, several monstrous and colourful spiders barring our way with really tough webs, the good company of nearly 70 members and the bonus of a drenching from a passing cloud all went to make a most enjoyable day. Our thanks to Meg and to Dave Malan for trans¬porting us to the kopjies by tractor and trailer.
For us Hararians a few of the more unusual species seen were: Olax obtusifolia and Olax dissitiflora. It's not often that we can compare the two, a feature of Olax is that the leaves which are brittle just crack and break when crushed, and thus release the almond /cyanide smell. Ormocarpum kirkii in flower and fruit, Albizia tanganyicensis, four Commiphora, Commiphora africana, Commiphora mollis, Commiphora marlothii, Commiphora mossambicensis. Acacia amythethophylla in flower, Acacia goetzei subsp. microphylla in hook as usual, Friesodielsia obovata, many Hexalobus monopetalus, Lonchocarpus capassa. Margaritaria discoidea, Ochna gambleoides, Pericopsis angolensis (all with a dead branch on the left), Afzelia quanzensis, and Pterocarpus rotundifolius subsp. polyanthus var. martinii, which puzzled some of us at Ian Taylor's Dombawera! For me the gem of the day was Ficus stuhlmannii whose leaves Kim so aptly des¬cribed as having velvety under surfaces with veins of lace-work stuck on afterwards! The veins are raised and are rather intricately meshed compared to other Ficus species. Ficus stuhlmannii is more common in the lowveld and Zambezi valley, so we were lucky to see it.
M. S-J.

Here is an interesting quiz compiled by a member. The answers will be found elsewhere in this Tree Life.
SS RANCH: 3 Km from Homestead we investigated an area close to the boundary of Madziwe farm which was opened up by Charles Sykes in the 1930's.
A cooler day, showered earth and rocks, ourselves refreshed and receptive – an eye for colour
1 Clustered yellow blossoms amongst green leaves – unusual
2 Arching rough barked branches bearing pink/purple pea flowers
3 Congealed-toffee coloured bark, fluted trunk
4 Occasional yellow daisies in the grass
5 Pendulous sprays of small pink pea flowers – sticky leaves
6 Inflated calyx, black velvet corolla, bright yellow stigmas
7 This is for you Father Hugh, grey green leaves sprawling over granite – its young leaves have sculptured surface.
8 A small shrub with heat-exhausted orange/yellow petals, beaked fruit, and green velvet tongue shaped leaves.
9 A wild salvia with the palest blue flowers – as we descended
10 Ribbed broad lanceolate leaves singly among rocks, ginger family.
11 Occasional tall bright blue cornflowers in the grass
12 Rainbow coloured tree trunk – cheating! Not yet found on SS Ranch, found at Umboe.
13 Blackened pot scrubber stems.
14 Red paper white trunk
15 Trail of pure white fibres as bark is peeled
16 Blue/green flask-fruits, red/orange seeds on ground
17 Silvery pink panicles of grass.
18 Make believe basket – discolourous leaves on red stems.
19 Among the rocks – leaves partly red arid green now
20 One tattered umbrella-spoked leaf. The flower in season has a sable colour and Kim/kermet associations.
21 Grey, claret and rose-brown describes the colours of the ... we saw.
22 The black, yellow and white spider and its web – this was called …
23 Parchment peel, leaving silky, silvery green bark.
(See elsewhere in this Tree Life for the answers!)

NYARUPINDA CATCHMENT MARCH 1992
The Scene
The first cool morning with a fresh breeze came on March 13th. Rainfall to date is 383 mm, 15 inches. Hail and wind have reduced by more than half, the potential of the full grown irrigated tobacco on the estate. Dry land tobacco struggling to grow was unharmed.
Awake at night thinking what to write to cheer us up. In February Senna singueana burst into flower and its display will last for many months, it must be the longest flowering indigenous tree. There are heavy crops of fruit on Allophylus africanus, Pericopsis angolensis; and Ziziphus mucronata will yield a carpet of fruit for the browsers. There were ninety-two green small bead-beans in a terminal cluster on Maerua triphylla (!) happy on a termite mound which both moist and fertile.
Erosion Follow-up
Brush-lines along contours (at close intervals) have been in place for several months, grass and weeds have grown amongst these lines of banana leaves, prunings and bamboo branches. Vegetation too tough for compost is used to repair the lines. This anti-erosion measure has successfully reduced the soil wash and made it difficult for the horses to mill about near the mater trough and the gateway.
New Erewhon Arcturus
More information about the countryside there can be found in Tree Life No. 58 December 1984, see pages 2,3,4 and 6, contributed by Phil Haxen and Kim St. JD.
It is notable that fragments of pottery, slag and tuyères were found on the road at the foot of the kopjie close to the house. These finds add another dimension to the local history as reconstructed by George Hall. Trees would have been selected for charcoal to smelt iron; other species were cut to fuel the forge. The picture is clear in the minds-eye; rich man, owner of livestock, secure on the kopjie.
Thinning a Thicket
Recently two thicket-covered termite mounds were thinned to discourage venomous snakes that lurk there and threaten the animals and us. The reward for completing this arduous task was several bundles of firewood and an intimate knowledge of the plants that occupied all levels.
Stately trees and shrubs were left in peace, freed from climbers and lianas which smothered them, these were: Albizia amara subsp. sericocephala, Cassia abbreviata, Dombeya rotundifolia, Pterocarpus rotundifolius, Ormocarpum kirkii all adults and Pappea capensis saplings.
Initially all Bauhinia petersiana were cut to ground level than we could see what was what. Species bearing edible fruit or promise of fruit had the lowest branches pruned. Carissa edulis was absent from both mounds, it is not cropping well this year, sad, no Carissa Jelly. The fruit bushes were Flueggea virosa, Ximenia americana, Diospyros lycioides, Strychnos spinosa, Grewia sp., Allophylus, Euclea divinorum and Ehretia amoena. The extent of the climbers and lianas had to be seen to be believed, hand over hand we wrestled with them. Asparagus racemosus (?) was the most vicious amongst Clematis brachiata, Adenia gummifera, Cyphostemma cirrhosum, Rhoicissus revoilii, Dioscorea sp. and some unidentified ones, Cissus-related probably. Alas, no Ceropegia – none anywhere yet.
Some showers of rain have revived the caudiciform plants which got damaged in spite of trying to avoid treading on them, some of these have leaves in a variety of unusual shapes, sagittate, some orb-like and others pleated geophyllous and fleshy upstanding leaves of Scadoxus.
Broad-leaved grass grew in the shade, we would like to establish Cynodon dactylon on the perimeter of the mound where there is enough light, and it is popular with grazers.
At the end of our labours enough foliage to protect them from erosion and to provide plenty of organic material for the termites shadowed both termitaria.
In the catchment where the soil is not too sandy, wet or stony, termite mounds occur at the rate of 2 or 3 to the acre. The plants growing on them are not typical of Brachystegia woodland because the mound is made of subsoil that has been miraculously enriched by the termites. The 'hill' is moist, alkaline, and contains organic matter and the elements necessary for growth. In comparison the surrounding soil in the woodland is likely to be leached, infertile and acid, Brachystegia sp., Monotes, Protea and many other species are suited to these conditions, so they are not found on termite mounds.
Prof. Hiram Wild observed a correlation between the family Capparaceae and termitaria. The genera Boscia, Capparis, Cadaba and Maerua prefer moist, deep fertile alkaline soil that is well drained. On nearly every "hill' the whippy green stems bear fruit which is a food-source for squirrels and other rodents, it was unharmed when the thicket was thinned. The mounds cleared by ZESA have grown up again, no doubt ours will provide more firewood in two or three years time... such is their fertility.
Further reading
In Wild Rhodesia No. 14 July 1977 there is an article by Bill Mitchell entitled "Ecological Effects of Termite Mounds".
Mr. Broderick of the Geological Survey Office told me that termites build their colonies above fissures – these provide them with water. Can water be found where there are many termitaria?
Here is a Look-Alike for a bit of light relief, the similarity was amusing. Floating with us in the pool were vegetable water beetles. Strong drying winds have blown off the buds of Brachystegia boehmii. Because of their immersion in water or just prior to being broken two unopened leaves have emerged form the bud scales on opposite sides, these resembled the paddles of the water beetles which belongs to the genus Cybister.
I.B.M.G. RAFFINGORA MARCH 14th 1992

WHISTLE-STOP TOUR OF ZIMBABWE
Having an eight-day holiday in the offing, Batty and I decided to re-visit past memories and make new ones.
About 40 km along the Masvingo – Birchenough Bridge Road there is now a wonderful wide tar road via Ndanga–Zaka–Jerera where a rutted track used to suffice. It is a road of "sharp curves and steep gradients" and has good vistas and Brachystegia glaucescens, Julbernardia globiflora, Euphorbia ingens, Euphorbia cooperi and Terminalia sericea – and latterly towards Buffalo Range, Colophospermum mopane, Peltophorum africanum and Aloe excelsa. The lack of water was evident everywhere but during lunch at a roadside lay-by we had shade under Acacia nigrescens, Sclerocarya birrea, Burkea africana and Ziziphus mucronata.
Although the Chiredzi River was not running, Tamboti (Spirostachys africana) Lodge was a haven for us in the 37°C (the week before 48°C!) heat. Dr. John Wilson has named the trees around the motel, and it was quite exciting to outguess the experts with Acacia tortilis, Acacia gerrardii, and Berchemia discolor with attendant purple-crested Louries and green pigeons. Croton megalobotrys with wattle-eyed flycatchers and woodland kingfishers, Lannea schweinfurthii with wild bees swarming in the cavities, Ficus sur and Manilkara mochisia.
The depressing trip to the Jack Quinton (high level) Bridge over the Save River ran through a completely desertified resettlement area where everything had been cleared, bar the Euphorbia tirucalli (rubber hedge). And the "enterprising" locals have even started collecting and selling the remaining rocks! As we had heavy "guti" it was not the expected dustbowl, but going north alongside the Save River via Chisumbanje the story was the same to almost Tanganda Junction. But near here we encountered Adansonia digitata (Baobabs in heavy leaf), stands of Combretum hereroense, and fortuitously there had been left, some Ficus sur. Along the road to Mutare the clouds were hanging heavily over the Himalayas to the east, but no rain had fallen in Mutare and we headed north to our favourite part – Nyanga.
Udu Camp was new to us, and excellent, with a view across the full dam and rock dwala opposite. A walk around the top of the dam uncovered a 3-stripe mouse, a flustered grass owl and at the beautiful small weir with real trickling water, a half-collared kingfisher – and Rhus pyroides, Pouzolzia mixta and Erica spp. Next morning necessitated a long walk across the dam wall to the magnificent stand of Acacia abyssinica (Nyanga flat-top), Acacia sieberiana and Acacia karroo with Dombeya burgessiae forming the understorey. The long walk back caused us to keep stopping at variously Erythrina abyssinica, Rhus leptodictya, Faurea speciosa, Pterocarpus rotundifolius and Croton gratissimus and on looking back at the rock dwala the beautiful orange-red patches were identified as Hymenodictyon floribundum – the fire-bush.
After a cool breather at Troutbeck, we descended once again, and went to the Nyahokwe Ruins area in a valley beyond Nyanga north. This, surprisingly, is pure Matabeleland–Matopos and we were rather excited with the terracing (enthusiastically explained by the custodian) and Vitex payos, Maytenus senegalensis, Combretum hereroense, Commiphora mollis, Lannea discolor, Pseudolachnostylis maprouneifolia and Ozoroa insignis on our climb. We had last visited this area in 1956, and although the museum is not in operation, it was a worthwhile return.
The next day saw us on a long walk near the Tamburatedza River out on the open montane grassland where only Cyathea dregei tree ferns, Buddleja spp. and various wild flowers dares to raise their heads up into the strong wind. From a vantage point we saw one of the many ancient subsidences that occur in that area.
They are about the size of a football field and about 10 metres deep, full of trees and shrubs that only grow to the ground level to be safe from the wind – fas¬cinating. On our walk we also saw eight kudu and the newly arrived herd of 30 wildebeest, presumably from Mozambique. Next stop was the newly formed car park across the Pungwe drift (with new lodges) and the 2 km tramp to the top of the Pungwe Falls passing Leucosidea sericea (good trout country), Strelitzia nicolai and Terminalia sericea and many other unknowns. A really worthwhile walk showing the beautiful waterfall and large pool normally hidden from view from the vantage point across the valley.
A new road has been cut to the Mtarazi Falls car park, and senior ranger Gary Douglas has decided to develop this beautiful area by making an exciting forest walk (about 2 km) through this isolated relic forest on the ridge of the Honde escarpment. Looking down we could see Polyscias fulva (Poly sky a la Kim!), Dracaena steudneri (looking like windmills) – head and shoulders above the other interesting but unidentified species, 600 metres below! There will soon be 6 camping sites (with shelters and water laid on) and an ablution block. In the area are the rare blues duiker (we saw two) and samango monkeys.
After saying a fond farewell to Nyanga we turned off at Watsomba to the still beautiful but depressing Smallbridge Dam and Lake Alexander, Mutare's failing water supply. Along the twisting road, Bauhinia galpinii was flowering, and we arrived in Penhalonga to the heady scent of Acacia karroo and booked into La Rochelle Botanical Gardens. A quick walk around the drying gardens, with aloes in pro¬fusion, and a barred cuckoo – a new bird for us, to be told by Ian Ehlinger that he has designed 3 interesting forest walks in the indigenous woodland. Mutare member, Gail Henning, is taking an interest and we hope to have an update on this exciting project?
From here a cross-country drive to Chegutu (Graham and Margaret) via Marondera (Eileen) and Harare (Maureen) – and we were rushed off to an evening picnic surrounded by freckled Nightjar, lightning and thunder – and latterly being drenched (what a joy!) by the start of a 90 mm downpour. Next morning was of sights of filling dams and happiness, before setting off to a new area for us – Ngezi National Park. Although not much water, this is in a beautiful setting with excellent lodges, lots of trees (mainly Brachystegia), birds and animals (including problem Vervet monkeys) and this could be an interesting venue for a combined
Tree Society weekend.
Next morning we left for Lake Sebakwe and the first 20 km obstacle course – this surely could not be called a road, culminated in a notice: "WARNING – YOU MAY ENCOUNTER: RHINO, ELEPHANT, BUFFALO, LION – ARMED SCOUTS ON PATROL". And to underline the welcome: "UNEATEN TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED"! We felt that this was a testing time, but unluckily nothing was seen, but the road did improve, and it was along here that Betty got me to stop for a spray of flowering Acacia amythethophylla. Wall and earthworks at Sebakwe are massive in amongst the rocky dyke, sadly with little water, but after seeing the animals, we felt that Noah's Ark was waiting for the flood, with 2 Kori bustards, 2 kudu and 2 klipspringers close to!
Arriving home after 2 250 km of a memory-filled holiday, we just hope there is still a chance of rain for all areas, to make Zimbabwe really beautiful.
KEN BLAKE

ANSWERS 1 – 23
1 Senna singueana 2 Ormocarpum kirkii
3 Commiphora mollis 4 Coreopsis insecta
5 Pseudarthria hookeri 6 Tinnea rhodesiana
7 Ipomoea verbascoidea 8 Thunbergia sp.
9 Pycnostachys sp. 10 Kaempferia rosea
11 Vernonia glabra 12 Sterculia africana (seen at Muni Farm)
13 Xerophyta sp. 14 Albizia tanganyicensis
15 Securidaca longipedunculata
16 Loranthus alias Tapinanthus alias Globimetula, what next! 17 Rhynchelytrum repens
18 Pouzolzia mixta
19 Hymenodictyon floribundum
20 Amorphophallus abyssinicus.
Amorphophallus fischeri has the long spadix and is said to be found on a termite mound on SS Ranch, so go for it Meg.
21 Paintings 22 Pass 23 Commiphora marlothii

Could the answer to No. 22 be the Golden Orb spider – Nephila sp.? An interesting snippet from the Tabex Encyclopaedia Zimbabwe reads the gold orb webs spun by Nephila spiders have bean used in the gourd resonators of marimbas in Zimbabwe.

The Tree Society’s e-mail address is
petra@mango.zw (Ruth Evans)

The Tree Society web site is
http://www.lind.org.zw/treesociety/index.htm