LOCALLY INDIGENOUS TREES
We are building a library of information about the remarkable variety of locally indigenous trees that make up our open savanna woodland. Please only ever plant these. Click the link below to download a full list of locally indigenous trees of Marloth Park.
๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ช
GREEN THORN, TORCH WOOD
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A: fakkelsaadboom, groendoring, lemoendoring; Sw:ย liphambo, umnunu; Ts: nnulu; Z: iphambo, ipamu, ugobandlovu, umnulu.ย
This unusual, nationally protected tree* can be found in several places. Look for them on the corner of Raasblaar and Grass, and along Bushpig, Soetdoring and Appelblaar/Hedgehog corner. They often grow in small colonies. They like dry forest, sandveld, plus being near water sources like rivers and pans.
The outstanding features are the robust, literally green, unevenly forked thorns, the attractive rich green, roundish leaves and the deeply vertically folded grey trunks of the mature specimens. The thorns can be 4 cm long, mostly seen on young zig zag branches. Green thorn is semi deciduous so in Marloth they provide welcome colour in the middle of winter. They can get tall, between 10 and 20 metres.
These trees have inconspicuous little yellowy green flowers, and bear small brownish yellow fruit, rather bitter, with ridged flesh covering a kernel. It ripens between May and July and several animals eat it: monkeys, baboons, warthogs and antelope. The common name โtorchwoodโ came about as the dry kernels contain oil and used to be burnt for light. Interestingly, Coates Palgrave ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ข says seeds, โyield a good quality, tasteless and colourless oil, said to equal the best olive oil.โ
*A protected tree is effectively in danger of extinction, so may not be cut, disturbed, damaged or destroyed. You also cannot remove, transport, export, purchase, sell, donate or in any other manner acquire or dispose of a protected tree, or any product that comes from one. Marloth is a sanctuary for these endangered trees.
๐๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ข ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ข ๐ด๐ถ๐ฃ๐ด๐ฑ. ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข
RIVER THORN
A: Brakdoring; Tsw: Moga, Mokhu, Moku; X: Umngampunzi; Z: Umngamanzi
Head to stream crossings on Olifant or damp areas such as along Figtree Road, or the point where Crocodile Road turns past Moepel to run along the river, or the start of Seekoei, to find this impressive thorn tree. It prefers rivers, drainage lines and streams in dry areas and grows very big in favourable conditions โ the one on Seekoei along the stream is massive..
In spring it has bright green new leaves and dense, creamy, pom-pom flowers. They are borne on pleasing, upward sweeping branches that form a slightly rounded crown. You can also still usually see many of the large brown or greyish, sickle-shaped pods attached. The leaves are twice compound with up to 25 pairs of closely arranged, tiny leaflets, hence the delicate, feathery look.
It has small pairs of straight thorns, only about 6-7mm long. The main trunk is greyish to dark brown. This tree can grow to 25 metres, and is found in wooded areas such as Marloth Park.
Message HR on 060ย 675 7275 for our list of trees and bushes to plant here.ย
Note: By law you may only have ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด plants in Marloth Park. This is one of the laws that ensures our status as a conservation area.
๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐บ๐ข ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ข
WILD PEAR
A: Gewone drolpeer; NS: mohlabaphala; Tsw: motubane; Ts: nsihaphukuma; Z: iNhliziyonkhulu
APPRECIATE OUR MARLOTH TREES
A โdendrophileโ loves and appreciates trees, and Marloth Park is a dendrophileโs dream. This info column covers locally indigenous trees. Please preserve and plant only those โ youโre spoilt for choice anyway!
Scattered throughout Marloth in August you will see this smallish tree in full bloom, covered in masses of pretty, scented, creamy-white flowers that dry off to brown. (They are sometimes pink.) The flowers are small but are borne in dense bunches at twig terminals. It is one of the first trees to flower, with the flowers appearing before the leaves. (Its common name is โwild pearโ because of similarity of flowers, but is actually no relation.)
When in leaf it is also easy to identify, because, as the scientific names suggests, the leaves are โrotundโ โ almost round. They are attractive, being strongly veined (five main veins from the base) dark green above and paler below, with fine hairs.ย
Then, the old trunks and branches are ruggedly vertically striated, breaking up into chunks.ย
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Altogether a lovely small to medium-sized tree to plant. Bonus: it is hardy, liking a range of altitudes and conditions, and grows fast if cared for!
Philenoptera violacea
APPLE-LEAF
A: Appelblaar; NS: Mphata; V: Muvevha Z: umBhandu
All over Marloth you will see this interestingly beautiful tree in bloom in November. It can grow very tall (up to 18 m), has a single grey trunk, and smooth, grey branches that twist into eye-catching shapes. The crown is loosely spreading. It is deciduous to semi-deciduous, dropping its old leaves in spring. Then, along with the flowers appear the new leaves. They are stiff, rough, elliptic and sage to grey green, contrasting with the brighter greens of other trees.ย
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Apple-leaf bears long sprays of small, fragrant, muted mauve flowers from its twig terminals, from September to December. Along Seekoei fence walk are many big specimens and you will see carpets of fallen petals, alerting you to the pretty show above.
This tree is a protected in South Africa, being one of our iconic big trees with wood that is popular for working. The tree is browsed by antelope and giraffe, and a source of pollen and nectar for bees.
Philenoptera violacea likes low altitude and occurs on all types of soils. It takes time to establish, but then grows fairly fast. It does not have an invasive root system so is good for planting fairly near buildings.
