Africa Wild Tree & Shrub Book - Order Fabales

[Toko]

188. Umbrella Thorn, Curly-pod Acacia Vachellia tortilis, Acacia tortilis Basterkameeldoring, Haakdoring, Haak-en-steek
Order: Fabales. Family: Fabaceae. Subfamily: Mimosoideae

© leachy
Lowveld, Limpopo

© leachy
Kruger National Park, on the bank of the Sabie River, Lower Sabie Low Level Bridge




Kruger National Park, Letaba



Desciption
This is the most striking of the umbrella trees of the Thorny Bushveld, with a particularly flat umbrella canopy of grey-green leaves. The leaflets are very tiny, giving the umbrella canopy a fine, feathery appearance.
This is often a single-stemmed tree with a straight trunk, but its growth form is very variable. Upper branches come off horizontally to form a flat, umbrella canopy. Young trees, and mature trees growing on shallow soil, tend to form a rounder canopy, with the thin branchlets and twigs intertwining. In mature trees the bark is dark grey and rough, with deep, lengthways fissures. Younger trees have smoother, lighter bark. The twice compound leaves are grouped at the leaf-bud. The leaves are very small and delicate with 4 – 10 pairs of feathers and 5 – 15 pairs of leaflets (Leaf: 20 – 30 mm; leaflet: 1 – 2 x 1,4 mm). The sharp, white thorns are not always obvious. Characteristic of the species, it has three kinds of thorns: short, hooked thorns interspersed with long, straight thorns; occasionally a pair of one hooked and one straight thorn (Straight thorn: 50 – 90 mm; curved thorn: 3 – 5 mm). Large numbers of sweet-scented flower-balls grow on older twigs, often shortly after rain (Oct – Feb) (5 – 10 mm). The pale brown pods hang in bunches. Each pod is tightly coiled. The pods do not split open on the tree (Dec – Jun) (Pods: up to 125 mm long when stretched out, 8 mm wide).

Distribution
This is a very widely distributed species and occurs in Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, Mozambique, South Africa (Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West).

Habitat
Vachellia tortilis occurs in deciduous woodland, thornveld and bushveld. It is found from sand dunes and rocky scarps to alluvial valley bottoms, avoiding seasonally waterlogged sites. A very drought-resistant species, the umbrella thorn grows in areas with annual rainfall as low as 40 mm and as much as 1200 mm, with dry seasons of 1–12 months. The tree favours alkaline soils but will colonize saline and gypseous soils.

Links: SAPPI Tree Spotting - Lowveld

[Flutterby]

189. Fever Tree Vachellia xanthophloea, Acacia xanthophloea (Koorsboom)
Order: Fabales. Family: Fabaceae. Subfamily: Mimosoideae


Satara, Kruger National Park

© Toko
Mkuze Game Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal

Description
An attractive, semi-deciduous to deciduous tree approximately 15 to 25 m tall and has an open, rounded to spreading or flattish crown which is sparsely foliated. The characteristic, almost luminous, lime green to greenish-yellow bark is smooth, slightly flaking, and coated in a yellow powdery substance described by some as sulphurous. If the powdery surface is rubbed away with the finger it will reveal a green bark beneath. Young twigs have a red-brown bark which peels off leaving the twigs sulphur yellow. The long straight white thorns are arranged in pairs and although they are very significant on young trees they often become barely noticeable on mature specimens.
Bright yellow, golden, ball-like flowers which are sweetly scented are borne in clusters on shortened side shoots at the nodes and towards the ends of branches. Flowering occurs from August or September to November. Flowers are followed by the production of yellowish-brown to brown pods which split open to reveal the small hard brown seeds, which may be harvested from January to April.

Distribution
This tree can be found from Kenya in the north to KwaZulu Natal in the south. It is a prominent feature in the lowveld region of South Africa.

Habitat
The fever tree occurs mainly in depressions and shallow pans where underground water is present or surface water collects after summer rains. It is also found in low-lying swampy areas, along the margins of lakes and on river banks. It often forms pure, dense stands of closed woodland in seasonally flooded areas on alluvial soils.

© leachy
Crook's Corner, Kruger National Park

Links: Sappi Tree Spotting: Kwazulu-Natal and Eastern Cape, Wild About Trees

[Toko]

208. Butterfly-leaf, Blue Neat's Foot Adenolobus garipensis (Latjiesbos, Bloubeesklou)
Order: Fabales. Family: Fabaceae. Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae




Richtersveld National Park

Description
Shrub or small tree, up to 3 m high. Branchlets long and slender, with a whitish bloom. Leaves clustered on dwarf side shoots, dark green, often tinged with blue, rather thick and fleshy. 1-3 flowers on short side shoots, petals greyish streaked with red. Pods brwon to pinkish red, shiny.

Distribution
Western Namibia and in the Northern Cape of South Africa.

Habitat
In semi-desert and desert areas, often on rocky hills or along dry watercourses.

Links: Tree Atlas Namibia (PDF)

[Dewi]

207. Pod Mahogany Afzelia quanzensis
Order: Fabales. Family: Fabaceae. Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae


Tembe Elephant Park, Kwazulu-Natal.

© Toko

© Toko
Tembe Elephant Park, Kwazulu-Natal

Description
A deciduous tree that grows to a maximum of 35 m high. It has a large, spreading crown with a grey trunk up to a metre in diameter. The bark is smooth and greyidh-green in colour.
The seed pods (pictured) are up to 7 cm long and are produced in the late Summer. The pods open in the Autumn and release their black seeds which have bright red arils (an extra seed covering, usually hairy or fleshy in appearance). Flowers are green at the base, becoming red on the petals.

Distribution
Afzelia quanzensis is widespread and it's distribution ranges from Northern KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo to Zimbabwe.

Habitat
It grows in low altitude woodland and dry forests, usually in deep sand.

Links: Trees and Shrubs of Mpumalanga and Kruger National Park, Wild About Trees

[General Gump]

208.2 Pride of De Kaap, Pride-of-the-Cape, Bauhinia Bauhinia galpinii
Order: Fabales. Family: Fabaceae. Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae


Kruger National Park, Skukuza

Description
A vigorous, scrambling shrub or small tree up to five metres high, usually wider than it is tall. The leaves are semi-deciduous but can be almost evergreen in a warm and moist environment. They are divided into two lobes, resembling the footprint of a cloven hoof, this leaf shape is characteristic for the genus. The flowers are bright red or orange and very showy, and are borne in clusters near the ends of the branches, somewhat resembling a nasturtium bloom (usually in flower from November to March, sometimes longer). The fruit is a narrow, brown pod which splits to release the seeds.

Distribution
In parts of northern KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland, Mpumalanga, Northern Province, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Habitat
Commonly found growing in thickets in hot, rocky places and on stream banks.

Several butterfly species are dependant on this small tree/creeper.
Branchlets are used for weaving baskets and for roof trussing on traditional huts.

Links: Trees and Shrubs of Mpumalanga and Kruger National Park; SAPPI Tree Spotting - Lowveld

© mposthumus
Kruger National Park, around Pretoriuskop

© Pumbaa

© Pumbaa
Kruger National Park, Mahonie loop


Kruger National Park © Pumbaa

© Lisbeth
Kruger National Park

[Toko]

212. Long-Tail Cassia, Sjambok Pod Cassia abbreviata (Sambokpeul, Kersboom)
Order: Fabales. Family: Fabaceae. Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae

© steamtrainfan







© leachy
Kruger National Park

Description
This smallish tree has a slender stem and semi-circular canopy with drooping leaves.
The drooping Once Compound leaves have a pair of leaflets at the tip. The leaves are elliptic with a smooth margin and are clustered along the ends of the branches. They are bright green when new in early summer, becoming darker and less striking asa they mature (leaf: 300 mm, 9 pairs of leaflets 45 x 20 mm). The bark is dark, fissured and flaking.
In early spring it is covered by masses of yellow flowers that appear before the new leaves.
Long, cylindrical, flat, bean pods appear soon after the flowers, and may take a year to ripen to dark brown (800 x 30 mm).

Distribution
From East Africa southwards to Limpopo and Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Habitat
The Long-tail Cassia grows singly in woodland and even savannah, in a wide variety of habitats, including riverbanks, along drainage lines and valley bottoms, and on termite mounds.

Links: Trees and Shrubs of Mpumalanga and Kruger National Park; SAPPI Tree Spotting - Lowveld

[Toko]

198. Mopane Tree, Mopani Tree Colophospermum mopane (Mopanie)
Order: Fabales. Family: Fabaceae. Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae. Tribe: Detarieae





© Sprocky








Kruger National Park

Description
The Mopane can be a shrub or a tall tree up to 30 m in the northern part of its range, depending on soil conditions and water availability. It has a tall, narrow crown. The compound leaves are divided in two so that the leaflets resemble butterfly wings or a camel's foot. There is a tiny point at the join of the two leaflets which is the remnant of a third, terminal leaflet. It is a deciduous (sometimes semi-deciduous) tree with lovely autumn and spring colours. Sprays of small, green flowers appear in December and January.
These are followed by pods which ripen between April and June and are flat and somewhat kidney-shaped. They change from green to light, finely speckled brown. The flat seeds inside are sticky from resin exuded by glands which cover them. The strange appearance of the seeds is from the convolutions in their surface. Some might say they resemble tiny, flat mottley-brown brains! The greyish brown bark is very deeply fissured in vertical fissures. It has a rough, ropy appearance and is very distinctive.

Distribution
The tree only occurs in Africa, in the far northern parts of southern Africa, into South Africa (Limpopo), Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, Angola and Malawi.

Habitat
The mopane grows in hot, dry, low-lying areas, 200-1 150 m. It is found growing in alkaline (high lime content) soils which are shallow and not well drained. It also grows in alluvial soils (soil deposited by rivers). In South Africa and adjacent areas of Botswana and Zimbabwe, the trees tend to vary between 4 and 18 m, often called mopane scrub but also sometimes taller and forming woodland, where further north the trees are taller and form tall woodlands referred to as cathedral mopane.

The Mopane Tree is host for the Mopane Moth Gonimbrasia belina which is very important in the nutritional needs of many people around Africa. The caterpillar of the moth, known as the Mopane Worm, is harvested and eaten as is or dried as a future food source.

Links: PlantZAfrica; Braam Van Wyk, Piet Van Wyk: How to Identify Trees in Southern Africa

[Toko]

X545. Royal Poinciana, Flamboyant Tree Delonix regia
Order: Fabales. Family: Fabaceae. Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae

© Lisbeth
St. Lucia - KwaZulu-Natal

© Moggiedog
Zimbabwe

Description
Delonix regia is a tree 10-15 (max. 18) m high, attaining a girth of up to 2 m; trunk large, buttressed and angled towards the base; bark smooth, greyish-brown. Crown umbrella shaped.Roots shallow.
Leaves biparipinnate, alternate, light green, feathery, 20-60 cm long; 10-25 pairs of pinnae, 5-12 cm long, each bearing 12-40 pairs of small oblong-obtuse leaflets that are about 0.5-2 cm long and 0.3 cm wide; petiole stout. The numerous leaflets are stalkless, rounded at the base and apex, entire thin, very minutely hairy on both sides, green on the upper surface.
The flowers are large, with four spreading scarlet or orange-red petals up to 8 cm long, and a fifth upright petal called the standard, which is slightly larger and spotted with yellow and white. Seed pods are dark brown and can be up to 60 cm long and 5 cm wide; the individual seeds, however, are small, weighing around 0.4 g on average.

Distribution
Delonix regia is endemic to the western forests of Madagascar, but has been introduced into tropical and sub-tropical regions worldwide.
Native to: Madagascar, Zambia.
Exotic to: Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cyprus, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Mexico, Niger, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, United States of America.

Habitat
D. regia originates from Madagascar, where it is now almost extinct. It is now widespread in most tropical and subtropical areas of the world. It grows in areas with both high and scanty rainfall. D. regia has a superficial root system and competes successfully with the neighbouring shrubs and flowering plants, rendering bare the ground under its canopy. Trees are deciduous only where the dry season is long and pronounced.

[Toko]

215. African Weeping-Wattle Peltophorum africanum
Order Fabales. Family: Fabaceae. Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae

© leachy

© leachy
Kruger National Park

Description
Peltophorum africanum is a small to medium-size tree, 5-10 m tall, with a spreading crown, frequently branched from near the ground or 2- to 3-stemmed from ground level; bark smooth and grey on the young branches; twigs covered in reddish-brown hairs, but brown to grey and rough with lengthwise grooves on older branches and stems.
Leaves alternate, compound, bipinnate, with 4-7 pairs of pinnae, each bearing 10-12 (or up to 23) pairs of feathery leaflets; leaflets oblong, averaging 7 x 2 mm but variable in size, dull green top side, pale green underside; apex rounded with a fine, hairlike tip; base asymmetric; margin entire; petiole and rachis covered with dense, rusty brown, velvety hairs; stipule distinctive in appearance, like small compound leaves, but falling early; when not in flower P. africanum can easily be confused with an acacia tree, except that it is completely without thorns.
Flowers very showy, bright yellow, in dense axillary sprays up to 15 cm long; flower stalks and the backs of sepals covered with brown, velvety hairs; petals about 2 cm in diameter, bright yellow and crinkled.
Fruit a flat pod, elliptic, tapering to apex and base, up to 10 x 2 cm with a winglike margin, very thinly woody, almost leathery, greyish-brown or yellow-tan and ripening to a dark brown, hanging in dense clusters, indehiscent.

Distribution
Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Widespread in tropical and southern Africa, in South Africa widespread in the northern provinces and northern KwaZulu-Natal. Provincial distribution in South Africa: Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West.

Habitat
In wooded grassland and along vlei margins.

Links: Ernst Schmidt, Mervyn Lotter, Warren McCleland: Trees and Shrubs of Mpumalanga and Kruger National Park; Braam Van Wyk, Piet Van Wyk: Field Guide to Trees of Southern Africa; Wild about Trees

© arks

© arks
Kruger National Park, S36

[Toko]

201. Karoo Boer-bean Schotia afra (Karoohuilboerboon)
Order: Fabales. Family: Fabaceae. Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae

© Sharifa
Addo Elephant National Park

© Lisbeth
Addo Elephant National Park

© nan
Addo Elephant National Park

Description
The tree is small in stature (max. height 5 m), evergreen, with rigid branches and has a gnarled trunk. It has pinnately compound, alternate leaves. Leaflets are more than three terminally. The stipules are present.The flowers are numerous, bright red to pink in colour and are borne in small clusters during the months of February to March. They are distributed throughout the tree.
Flowers are followed by attractive, large, lime green to pink seedpods which turn brown when ripe. The seed is dispersed through an explosive seedpod, which when dry, catapults the seeds great distances from the parent plant. Seeds are produced in May and June of each year.
There are two variations of this tree: a larger leaf one in the southern and Eastern Cape (var. afra) and a small leaf one (var. angustifolia) in Namaqualand, in the Ais Ais Richtersveld Transfrontier Park, in the Augrabies Falls and Addo Elephant National Parks.

Distribution
South African endemic: Little Karoo, the drier areas of Eastern Cape and the southern part of Western Cape.

Habitat
It occurs in the Karoo-Namib shrubland and in Tongaland-Pondoland regional transition zone, bushland and thicket. The trees often occur along the banks of dry streams and small rivers.