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February 2000
240
JOURNAL
OF THE
TREE
SOCIETY OF ZIMBABWE
P.O BOX 2128
HARARE
TREE LIFE
SUBS ARE DUE ON 1ST APRIL AND THE CURRENT NHAPPY STATE OF AFFAIRS MAKES
IT NECESSARY TO INCREASE THEM TO $120 PER
ANNUM.
MASHONALAND CALENDAR
Tuesday 8 February. Please note that because of our trip to Mapor the
walk will be on the second Tuesday in February.
Botanic Garden Walk at 4.45 for 5 p.m. We will meet Tom in the car park
and continue with the Euphorbiaceae family. There will be a guard for
the cars.
Sunday 20 February. We last visited Caesar Pass on the Great Dyke in 1992,
so a return visit will be interesting. This is a good venue with plants
that are chemical tolerant, such as Ozoroa longipetiolata. Other trees
of interest which we expect to see are Apodytes dimidiata, Rapanea melanophloeos,
Phoenix reclinata, Catha edulis and Securidaca longipedunculata. Directions:
Take the Lomagundi Road out of Harare. Just over the dyke cross the railway
line, pass the grading sheds and at about the 66km peg turn onto the road
sign-posted Mutorashanga, Muriel Mine and Kildonan mine. Continue along
this road which runs parallel with the Dyke. After 31km the Caesar Pass
sign will be seen to the right. We will meet at the little road on the
left about halfway up the pass. Keep a look out for Tree Soc. signs. Bring
lunch and meet at 9.30 a.m. Distance from Harare is about 97km from the
2nd St/Lomagundi Rd junction.
Saturday 26 February. Mark's walk is cancelled this month as Mark will
be away.
Tuesday 7 March. Botanic Garden Walk.
Sunday 19 March. Marussino Farm in the Trelawney area.
Saturday 26th March. Mark's Walk.
MATABELELAND CALENDAR.
Sunday 13 February. An all day visit to John and Jill Dudman's farm Doornoch
Estate, Figtree. Meet at Girls’ College at 8 for a prompt departure
at 8.30 a.m. Bring lunch and your chair, etc.
Sunday 6 March. Either to Umgusa or the Randall's on the Victoria Falls
Road to look at acacias. Meet at Girls' College.
The following is a comment on the observation made in the write-up on
the trip to Galloway Farm in Norton that Euphorbia espinosa is not usually
found in the Norton area and that it normally occurs on Kalahari sands
on the edge of mopane country. In my experience Euphorbia espinosa is
found in a very widespread area from Norton south-westwards to Bulawayo
and northwards to the Zambezi Valley, growing on all types of soils. Whereas
it may sometimes occur on Kalahari sand, it also occurs on granite cyanite,
basalt, shists and various types of clay, for example it is quite common
on mudstone in the Hwange area. Euphorbia espinosa has a fairly drooping
habit.
Euphorbia matabelensis, a related species, can be very common on Kalahari
sand but again is not confined to Kalahari sand, growing in a wide variety
of soils, particularly granite sand. Euphorbia matabelensis usually has
a fairly upright habit.
Anthon Ellert
TSHABALALA, BULAWAYO, 5 December1999
This encompassed 16 Sunday souls all agog to take acacias seriously. We
set oft on a rainless morning (having had around 16 mm of rain the previous
day) to Tshabalala Game Reserve just over 10km from the city. That day
mud prevailed so we were advised not to take our ordinary cars in and
only Jonathan's 4x4 could penetrate, carrying its load of decrepitude.
The able-bodied proudly walked.
Can we, who are by no means all botanists, really be excited by boring
old thorn trees – even if we call them mimosas (American for Buck's
Fizz)? Some of us experience a love/hate emotion with the genus, yet they
are a challenge and a fascination. Perhaps, like medicine, a thorny but
interesting pathway, especially when stimulated by enthusiasts such as
Jonathan today and Ian McCausland some years ago.
Today Jonathan took us straight to a place where five species exhibited
themselves within a few metres. And here he began his sermon....
There are four categories of Acacia as determined by arrangement of thorns:
(a) straight paired thorns, (b) paired hooked thorns, (c) scattered hooked
thorns, and (d) hooked thorns in threes. Independent of this, acacias
can also be divided into those with dehiscent pods (the majority) and
those with indehiscent pods.
The first species was Acacia nilotica (scented thorn), first described
by Linnaeus from the Nile whence it spreads across Africa and into India.
Its general habit or outline is V-shaped. The indehiscent pods are tough
and resemble a string of beads. They rot on the ground where they fall
and thus depend on animals and their faeces for propagation. Hence the
dis¬tribution of Acacia nilotica tends to mirror that of livestock.
Dehiscent pods, on the other hand, simply fall from the pod while still
on the tree. Flowers are in yellow balls, and the straight paired thorns
come oft the nodes, being declined slightly backwards – a diag¬nostic
trait. Young growth is pink/red and slightly pubescent, while older twigs
are characterized by longitudinal splits of the epidermis.
The second species was the widely distributed Acacia karroo (sweet thorn)
with a general outline like a U owing to its ascending branches. This
tree gets up to about 15 m in height It has paired, straight thorns, glossy
leaves with a furrow along the main rachis, and only loses its leaves
for two months or so. The flowers form golden-yellow balls. There is a
variant with whitish flowers (probably a separate species) found only
on Bazuruto and nearby islands off the Mozambique coast, which can also
tolerate occasional inundation of its roots by seawater. The pods are
dehiscent, slender and sickle-shaped. This fast-growing pioneer species
is very flexible in its requirements and is excellent for rehabilitating
degraded land. Its life expectancy is up to 35 years – 45-50 year
old specimens are exceptional. However, it has a high germination rate
and can go from seed to flower within 2 to 3 years. It makes good firewood
while the gum has anti-bacterial properties and is used in sweet manufacture.
The third species was Acacia rehmanniana (Silky acacia), a smaller tree
that is almost endemic to Zimbabwe, growing principally on the watershed
above 900 m altitude. It is characterized by its orangey bark and the
feathery, soft, silky foliage. Thorns are paired and straight, the new
ones being pubescent. There is a yellowish tinge to the new growth. It
is closely related to, and may be confused with, Acacia sieberiana and
Acacia abyssinica. The flowers form white balls while the pods are dehiscent,
straight, hairless and rather like those of Acacia sieberiana, except
not thick and woody. This species does not make particularly good firewood.
The fourth species was Acacia gerrardii (red thorn). This grey-haired
acacia has very dense leaves all along the twigs. The young growth is
thick; we think Jonathan said it had rolls of fat! The leaves sit on cushions
and have a tufted appearance, but come straight out of the trunk in some
places. The thorns are usually short, straight and stout but, if longer,
they may have a slight curve. Height is up to 6 m. The flowers are white
pompoms scattered along older growth, while the pods are sickle-shaped,
narrow and dehiscent with fine grey hairs.
The last species we looked at was Acacia robusta (splendid acacia). Just
to muddle you, this has some two or three subspecies so distinct they
should be separate species. Here we were face to face with subsp. robusta.
This is a higher altitude ROBUST species with large very deep green leaves
of distinct shape and pointing upward. Branches grow out horizontally
and the thorns are up to 8 cm in length; once out of the browse zone these
are much shorter or lost. There are no hairs whatsoever and it looks as
if it had been pumped up with hormones or fertilizer! Flowers are in white
balls, while the dehiscent pods are straight or slightly curved. It reaches
8 m in height.
The rain held off so the main body of our troops unmurmuring marched for
miles to the river for minimum reward – there were some splendid
birds, a few warthogs and a fascinating cobra skin.
This writer couldn’t help wondering what the basic purpose of acacias
is in the general bush ecology and why they are such efficient survivors.
There are over 1300 species in the genus of which over 900 occur in Australia.
As to its economic value you'd almost gather that gum Arabic is the principal
factor. This comes from Acacia senegal, mostly found in the Sudan but
spread right across Africa presumably to Senegal at the continent’s
western point. The gum for sweets comes traditionally from Acacia senegal,
but Jonathan says Acacia karroo forms a perfectly good substitute. Acacia
bark is a source of tannin. Timber...well yes. Best is Australian Blackwood
(Acacia melanoxylon). I have a beautiful desk in England made of Tasmanian
Blackwood; I guess it’s closely related.
The day held a last puzzle for us. We found a fearsome bush whose thorns
were in fact spines (please could someone define the difference) which
was very late in coming into leaf. It almost had the pundits stumped and
certainly was no Acacia. The final consensus was Rhus pyroides.
My thanks to Jean Whiley for lending me her estimable notes.
Eric McNair
TSINDI RUINS, MARONDERA: 16 JANUARY 2000
Approximately 30 people gathered in the car park of the Tsindi (formerly
known as the Lekkerwater Ruins) in the Marondera district. After a talk
by Rob Burrett about the culture of the people who had built the ruins,
we set off.
The hill has two peaks with the ruins on the northern one. The altitude
is quite high (1660 m at the northern summit). I imagine that the rainfall
is also relatively high and we saw many species typical of wetter, high
altitude places. After a reasonable, if rather late, rainy season, the
vegetation looked magnificent, especially the herbaceous vegetation.
The other main influence on the flora at Tsindi is of course that it is
rocky and we were generally on rocky slopes, walking on thin soils over
rocks or, especially near the summit, amongst large rocky boulders.
A characteristic tree of rocky hills which we saw frequently was Hymenodictyon
floribundum the Firebush. Although not in flower, we found some of the
old flower spikes, with their pair of conspicuous long petiolate paddle-like
bracts at the base. Brachystegia glaucescens, the Mountain acacia, was
very common and the typical grass of rocky places, Danthoniopsis pruinosa.
Tetradenia riparia, the Ginger bush, although not always in rocky places,
was common here.
We stopped at one point and compared Vangueria infausta and Vangueriopsis
lanciflora. These two species are indeed closely related (both belong
to tribe Vanguerieae in the family Rubiaceae).
Separating them is an old Tree Society chestnut, and although generally
not too difficult, I still find on occasions difficulty in deciding. The
phrase "Vangueria is hairier"' gives the main character, namely
that the upper surface of the leaves of Vangueriopsis tend to become less
hairy with a shiny dark green appearance. Comparing the two here, another
good character appeared to be the brownish powdery bark on the branchlets
of Vangueriopsis which was not present in Vangueria infausta.
Another characteristic species of rocky places is Maytenus undata, the
Koko tree. The usual slightly unpleasant smell of the leaves was discussed
and a number of suggestions made; like Kim's idea that it smells like
old kitchen shelf paper. Seen frequently were the green rope-like stems
of Adenia gummifera, a common and sometimes very large liana in the savannah
woodland.
Other species which are not confined to rocky places but which often occur
there include:
Cussonia natalensis, Garcinia buchananii, and Vitex payos.
Two spectacular flowering plants caught our eye. One was a sprawling yellow-flowered
herb with leaves in threes. This was Sphedamnocarpus angolensis. This
belongs to the family Malpighiaceae, most of which have hairs which are
attached to the leaf in the middle and therefore have two arms. These
are known as medifixed or sometimes malpighiaceous hairs.
Nearby was a striking purple-flowered Ipomoea with greyish-white leaves.
I am afraid that the name I gave at the time was wrong; it was actually
Ipomoea verbascoidea. Like other Ipomoea, it was producing milky juice.
This is a common species, which also catches the eye in fruit with its
very long silky hairs on the seeds.
At the summit, we climbed amongst the large boulders with their humus-filled
crevices and a distinctly different flora was found. The main target of
the day was Solanecio mannii, the Canary-creeper tree. This is a composite
and, as is rare in that family, is a shrub, sometimes becoming a small
tree. Although not flowering on this occasion, it has dense panicles of
yellow flowers. A distinctive feature is the leaves crowded at the ends
of the branches and below these are prominent and persistent leaf scars.
It is commonest in the eastern districts but occurs along the watershed
in rocky places in high rainfall areas.
Nearby was the shrubby species Erythrococca trichogyne, the Twin red-berry.
This has simple alternate leaves and can be rather anonymous in appearance.
Here it was in fruit. It has 2-lobed fruit; each lobe contains 1 seed
which is en¬closed within an orange aril.
A considerable colony of Diospyros natalensis was seen; this is a rocky
species par excellence. Also Celtis africana, Rhus leptodictya and another
high rainfall species, Grewia stolzii, which has white flowers and 4-lobed
bristly-hairy fruits.
In the shady humus-filled, crevices we came across a fruiting Scadoxus
multiflorus (formerly Haemanthus multiflorus), the Fireball. This generally
flowers before the leaves, but here the leaves were well developed. They
have a false stem which was strongly purple-spotted. Also seen here was
a stinging nettle, Girardinia diversifolia. Zimbabwe, fortunately, is
poorly served with stinging nettles; this is an annual generally hiding
away in shady crevices. Also among the rocks was the sprawling Phytolacca
dodecandra; this has fleshy alternate leaves and white flowers; it is
typical of rocky hills. A distinctive climber, often seen in rocky places,
is Cryptolepis cryptolepioides. It is, for example, very common at Domboshawa.
It belongs to the Asclepiadaceae and produces milk and has paired fruits.
Its leaves show a remarkable variation from linear to almost circular.
Two other Interesting species seen at the top were Schrebera alata, which
has opposite compound leaves with the distinctive winged rhachis. Plants
with a winged rhachis are very few and this feature makes this species
easy to name. In flower was Olinia vanguerioides. This, again, often occurs
in high rainfall areas in rocky places (Domboshawa again springs to mind).
It has opposite leaves and looks a bit like a Rubiaceae (this is implied
by the specific name – like a Vangueria) but it lacks stipules and
often has a red petiole and leaf base.
After lunch, we climbed up through rather thicker miombo woodland to the
summit of the southern kopjie. At the top, Maureen spotted two epiphytic
orchids on a small Parinari and these were promptly identified by Werner.
One was a succulent species with "terete" (i.e. almost circular
in section) leaves which used to be helpfully known as Tridactyle teretifolia
but is now called Tridactyle tridentata. Growing with it was Polystachya
greatrexii, which has small pseudo-bulbs. It is named after a Mr. Greatrex
who collected extensively near Harare. The species is in fact described
from a specimen from Domboshawa.
All in all, a very enjoyable day; the rain held off, the shortage of fuel
did not deter people and both the plants and the habitat were excellent.
MAH
CHRISTON BANK: 22 JANUARY 2000
It is not often that we write up the walk on the fourth Saturday of each
month, but Saturday's walk had some plants of exceptional Interest.
Our walk took us from the car park down through miombo woodland of various
types to the Mazowe River at the bottom; this is actually at an altitude
of c.1260 m. Our goal was to find the species of Teclea (Rutaceae) which
grows there, mainly because I had not seen it before. The going was not
easy in places, but the lush riverine vegetation was well worth the effort.
The Teclea was easy to find; there is quite a bit of it and it grows in
the shady riverine forest at the top of the stream banks above the river.
It has glabrous, ever¬green 3-foliolate leaves which have pellucid
glands, pale greyish branchlets and bright red fruits. It is Teclea rogersii,
which is what was expected and indeed, according to Bob Drummond, it is
well known from there.
In the riverine vegetation were enormous trees of the Wild olive, Olea
europaea subsp. africana. The under¬storey had Acokanthera oppositifolia,
with striking purplish berries, leaves of the orchid Eulophia streptopetala,
the Stem-fruit, Englerophytum magalismontanum and a rather unusual climber
Solanecio angulatus. The latter is of course in the same genus as the
Canary creeper tree we saw at the top of the Tsindi ruins; it looks quite
different however, as it has greyish leaves which have few deep lobes.
Another somewhat unusual species seen is Osyridicarpos schimperianus;
this is related to Osyris but is a weak climber. It is common in the eastern
districts, for example forest edges in the Vumba, but it is quite unusual
in the Harare area.
An interesting crop of aliens was also found. Apart from Passiflora subpeltata
which is quite common in the northern parts of Harare, we also saw Passiflora
edulis, which outside the eastern districts I think is not common. Climbing
high into the trees and bearing its long fruits was the Cat's-claw creeper,
Macfadyena unguis-cati; this is also well naturalised close to Harare
but this site shows how it can spread. Another abundant species was Cardiospermum
grandiflorum festooning the trees and bearing its inflated fruits. In
the understorey was Senna septemtrionalis, bearing yellow flowers and
black pods.
Walking back though the woodland we came across a plant of Thunbergia
crispa. This is the plant with large deep purple flowers which we saw
at the edge of the riverine vegetation at Calgary farm last year. In fact,
the area is quite like Calgary and also the Holloways place in Welston
Rd, neither of which are very far from Christon Bank.
Christon Bank is a very rich place botanically and as an indication of
this, I covered 4 pages with plant names, probably more than at the Tsindi
ruins.
MAH
NOTES FROM THE LAY-BYS
Umsenya
I was very pleased to see an old friend still alive – but only just
– at the Redwood Road signpost 52.5km out of Bulawayo on the road
to Victoria Falls. Erythrophleum africanum, known in SiNdebele as umsenya
or umbako, and in Shona as mushati, is sometimes called the ordeal tree
because its bark contains the poisonous alkaloid, erythrophlein, which
was used in times gone by for trials by ordeal. This particular specimen
is the largest of its kind that I have seen – 23 m tall in June
1987, with a bole diameter a little more than 78 cm. In November 1987
it was struck by lightning, and in April 1988 it appeared to be completely
dead. But when I saw it again at the end of August 1999 there were one
or two live branches in full new leaf.
Joas dos Santos, a Dominican priest in Mozambique (1586-1595), described
trials by ordeal in his ETHIOPIA ORIENTAL, which was published in 1609-They
use three kinds of Oathes in Judgement most terrible, in accusations wanting
just evidence. The third oath they call, Calano, which is a vessel of
water made bitter with certaine herbs, which they put into it, whereof
they give the accused to drinke, saying, that if he be innocent, he shall
drinke it all off at one gulp without any stay, and cast it all up again
at once without any harme: if guilty, he shall not be able to get downe
one drop without gargling and choaking.
Umsenya is an associate of the dominant trees in the Kalahari-sand forests
of north-western Zimbabwe, but I have also seen it on the deep sands of
Gonarezhou National Park. Because of its mainly non-commercial sizes it
has received little recognition as a timber tree, but Umsenya has a reddish
brown wood that is hard, heavy, strong, and suitable for all the uses
that have given the wood of Zambezi teak its great reputation.
Lyn Mullin
A BRIEF VISIT TO JACANA LODGE
13 – 16 December 1999
Jacana Lodge is one of several in the Save Valley Conservancy, the largest
wild life reserve in Africa, formerly a group of 21 ranches, now banded
together to restore natural game such as elephant, rhino, buffalo, hippo,
giraffe, kudu, etc, to be sustained by developing tourism in the area.
Jacana Lodge has a scenic situation next to a wetland euphemistically
termed a pan, said to be teeming with birds of all kinds – maybe,
if only you could see through the welter of over¬grown reeds and grasses.
The turn-off from the main (wide tar) road from Chiredzi to Sabi-Tanganda
has a good gravel surface for about 40km through arid, open veld. The
sight of 5 large fever trees Acacia xanthophloea told us we were near,
but the next 5km along tracks through sugar fields, churned up by heavy
vehicles was no joy. However, when we came to leave Jacana Lodge, we were
guided along a new road through the mopane forest, so much better, and
soon to be opened and signposted.
Our party of four, V, Do, M, and Du, was welcomed with a tray of cold
drinks, much appreciated. During our 2+ day stay, we came to depend on
the same smiling, competent and knowledgeable service from the manager
and hostess, Albert and Georgina Paradzai, ably assisted by Stephen Midzi.
Whatever we wanted, or asked about, whether game-viewing drives or queries
about trees, animals or birds was quickly and courteously arranged or
answered. Our accommodation was in spacious rondavels, comfort¬ably
furnished and well-screened, plus electric light and hot water. Wide stone
paths avoided mud, as quite improbably it rained on the Monday of our
arrival and on and off all day Tuesday. (We saw the Geminid meteorite
showers under difficult conditions, amused at the counter-claims that
these were only fireflies). The hanging pods of the Kigelia africana advised
caution on taking a shortcut to the dining area – later we saw many
more of these trees.
Colophospermum mopane filled the skyline across the wetland with its bright
green foliage, yet around the Lodge itself, Acacia tortilis with its greyish-green
leaves, whether as a thorny shrub or as a flat-top tree, dominated. Other
acacias recognised were Acacia galpinii, Acacia nigrescens, Acacia nilotica,
and the vivid Acacia karroo in full flower.
Our interests were not all exactly the same. Do hankered after seeing
big game, and though we went on several rives he saw only impala and warthog.
Both V and M were keen on their trees, and Albert was able to identify
a wide variety for them, some found only in this area, such as the great
Albizia glaberrima along the banks of the Save river Du was happy to be
in the bush, and revelled in the larger trees, such as the Albizia, Khaya
anthotheca, mopane at least 30 m high in one area, and of course the baobabs
Adansonia digitata – one like a lady in overlapping pink crinoline
skirts, and another with a thriving honey factory. We shared a common
interest in birds, and frequently Albert would stop the truck, saying
"I can hear such-and-such a bird" (which we never did) "let
us see if we can spot, it in that tree over there", and usually we
then did. Around the lodge, the call of Burchell's Coucal was heard frequently,
a liquid du-du-du-du-du-; and one high for Du was to see two of them perched
in a tortilis tree with their wings spread out fan-wise, drying them after
rain.
We went down to the Save river on two occasions, once on a rainy morning
and again for a cloudless sundown the next day The river was in flood,
about 400m across and just as much sand banks. We saw many waders, but
also a tawny eagle taking its time drinking at the water's edge; and best
of all, a flight of white-faced whistling ducks in V-formation low over
the water, both when going downstream and then returning.
Besides the trees already mentioned, we saw many Dichrostachys cinerea,
Combretum apiculatum and Combretum erythrophyllum growing alongside each
other, unusually large Combretum imberbe or Leadwood trees. A large Lonchocarpus
capassa or rain tree, Spirostachys africana (Tamboti) and Cleistanthus
schlechteri (false Tamboti), Sclerocarya birrea, the Marula, and a tree
with pear-shaped woody fruit, Schrebera trichoclada. Albert's tree knowledge
included knowing how the various leaves and bark were used medicinally
by the local people, e.g. the Euclea divinorum, the diamond-leaved Euclea,
edible fruit (not tasty) but used as a strong purgative. Many shrubs can
be identified by the smell of their crushed leaves, the Zanthoxylum capense,
or small knobwood, being an obvious example with a strong smell of citrus
oil.
So much to be seen, learned, and enjoyed, but too short a time. Coming
back to Harare, via Tanganda and Mutare, and seeing large areas of the
Save Valley almost devoid of trees or bushes made us realise just how
beautiful the Jacana Lodge portion of the Save Valley Conservancy is.
Its lush vegetation, either exclusively mopane or else mainly acacia,
depending on soil type, interspersed with occasional pans or dams, home
to knob-nosed and whistling ducks, and Spur-winged geese. All in all,
a visit to be remembered with much pleasure
Duncan Torrence.
THE CORAL TREES OF NEW CAPE
The farms Weltevrede, Lombardsrust, and Johannesrust were pegged. Then
the others moved to Thoms Hope where the rest pegged their farms…
through their perseverance, they opened up the new area of North Melsetter,
and thus the whole of Gazaland – dream of Moodie, Jameson, and Rhodes
– was occupied as British Territory.
S. P. OLIVIER (1957) – MANY TREKS MADE RHODESIA
For more than 45 years, from about 1908, the main access to Melsetter
(now Chimanimani) from Mutare was through Cashel and along the 70-odd
kilometres of dirt road that often became a nightmare during Zimbabwe's
main rainy season. Much of this road travelled through a farming area
that had been settled in 1896 by members of the Henry-Steyn Trek, which
had set out from the Kroonstad district of the Orange Free State in May
1895. The trekkers, led by John Henry and Johannes G.F. Steyn, numbered
15 families and four single men, for a total of 34 adults and 62 children.
Seven of the families (14 adults and 23 children) were named Steyn, and
they pegged so many of the farms on either side of the Tandaai River that
the area was at one time dubbed "the dirty tablecloth".
One of those farms was named New Cape, and was included in an acquisition
by the Forestry Commission of more than 17 000 hectares of land in the
Cashel district in the early 1980s. And in the grounds of the old homestead
of New Cape are two exceptionally large specimens of the common coral
tree, Erythrina lysistemon, also known as the lucky-bean tree, a species
of the high-altitude woodlands, and usually no more than 10 metres tall
and up to 70 cm in stem diameter. The Shona names are mutsodzo or musinzana,
and the fact that there are only two of them is a reflection of the species'
relatively limited distribution in Zimbabwe.
The coral tree is well known for its beautiful scarlet flowers, which
appear from July to October, usually before the trees come into new leaf.
The standard petal is long and narrow, enclosing the other petals and
the stamens, and the flower spike almost has the appearance of an elaborate
and colourful epaulette. Also well known are the striking red-and-black
seeds – the "lucky beans" – which are borne in cylindrical
and sharply constricted black pods. The coral tree is much more widespread
in South Africa, and it features in local folklore and medicine, but it
is also a popular ornamental tree that can be grown very easily from truncheons.
The two trees at New Cape might possibly have been planted, but their
exceptional diameters make this unlikely. In January 1988 both were 14.4
metres tall and the larger had a bole diameter at breast height of 1.5
metres and a crown spread of 15 metres. The smaller of the two could not
be measured satisfactorily at breast height, but its diameter at ground
level was 1.16 metres and its crown spread 18 metres. Trees of this size
would be a magnificent asset in a large garden not only for their own
beauty but also for the attraction they have for sunbirds, red-winged
starling, and other nectar-loving birds.
Lyn Mullin
COMMITTEE MEMBERS’
CONTACT TEL. NUMBERS
Harare
Mark Hyde Home 745263
Cell 0912 233751
Ruth Evans Home 331198
Terry Fallon Home 778789
Eva Keller Home 339368
Richard Oulton Home 882792
Mimi Rowe Home 882719
The Tree Society’s e-mail address is
petra@mango.zw (Ruth Evans)
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