Africa Wild

Klippie!

A sycamore fig tree in Letaba camp!

This is a very good pic of the root system in large old trees. Buttress roots are large, wide roots on all sides of a shallowly rooted tree. Typically, they are found in nutrient-poor soils. Buttresses are tension elements and prevent the tree from falling over (hence the name buttress) while also gathering more nutrients. When the roots spread horizontally, they are able to cover a wider area for collecting nutrients. They stay near the upper soil layer because all the main nutrients are found there.
Some trees also develop butressed trunks. Buttresses are extensions of the main trunk of a tree that extend outward to provide extra support. They often continue outward to form what are referred to as snaky roots or butress roots.

Lisbeth, if you don't have a clue how to Id a tree, you should start with the location.

Find the ecozone you are in: In this case ecozone P (Mopane/Bushwillow woodlands on granite)

Then look up what trees are common there

Here you have the list of the Sappi Tree Spotting book, hint: You are in a drainage line
Now you can ID your tree easily yourself

(The trunk has a lot of growth nodes, there ware branches when the tree was small, that is not an ID feature)

Thank you anyway I will try

Marula?

Now you are a tree specialist

I don't think so

Without trying you'll never get anywhere