Black monkey thorn / Swartapies doring
Black monkey thorn / Swartapies doring
Black monkey thorn / Swartapies doring
Black monkey thorn / Swartapies doringA wonderful feature tree for the larger garden. It forms a dense shade, making it a useful addition to a car park.
Botanical Name:
Senegalia burkei
Did you know?
The leaves are eaten by black rhino, giraffe, kudu, nyala and impala.
Brown ivory / Bruin ivoor
Brown ivory / Bruin ivoorAn attractive fast growing tree with a short trunk and rounded crown. The bark is grey-brown and the leaves are shiny dark green above and pale green below. Perfect for the garden to create shade and to attract birds.
Botanical Name:
Berchemia discolor
Did you know?
The fruits of brown-ivory are rich in Vitamin C!
Fevertree / Koorsboom
Fevertree / KoorsboomThe characteristic, almost luminous, lime green to greenish-yellowbark is smooth, slightly flaking, and coated in a yellow powdery substance described by some as sulphurous. The fever tree is an exceptionally attractive tree and is often used to decorate gardens and urban landscapes.
Botanical Name:
Vachellia xanthophloea
Hook-thorn / Haakdoring
Hook-thorn / HaakdoringThis beautiful tree is the most common naturally occurring senegalia in the Witwatersrand National Botanical Garden. It has an irregular, spreading crown. One of the most attractive features of the tree is the foliage which is bright green and feathery looking. The leaves are drooping which gives the canopy a lovely soft look.
Botanical Name:
Senegalia caffra
Did you know?
The common hook-thorn is used traditionally for many purposes such as fencing posts, tanning and the beautiful rootwood is highly valued by Xhosa women for tobacco pipes.
Jackalberry / Jakkalsbessie
Jackalberry / JakkalsbessieA medium-sized tall, upright tree with a dense canopy. The bark is black to grey with a rough texture. They often grow on termite mounds.
Botanical Name:
Diospyros mespiliformis
Did you know?
The jackalberry has a fantastic mutualism and symbiotic network with many living organisms, from human beings to small insects. There is a complex ecological system revolving around this tree. It is one of the savanna giants that can live for more than 200 years.
Knob thorn / Knoppiesdoring
Knob thorn / KnoppiesdoringThe knob thorn is an attractive garden tree which grows into a lovely shade tree. It has a long cylindrical shape and rounded crown. It has knobs on the trunks and on branches with persistent thorns arising on the knobs.
Botanical Name:
Senegalia nigrescens
Did you know?
The knob thorn is termite-resistant and the flowers are a dietary component for giraffes.
Marula / Maroela
Marula / MaroelaThe edible fruits and the multiple uses associated with almost all parts of the marula, make it one of southern Africa’s most valued trees.
Botanical Name:
Sclerocaraya birrea
Did you know?
The Marula is a firm favourite for elephants, who delight in the fruit and the nutritious bark. Luckliy an elephant would have to eat hundreds and hundreds of fermented marula fruits in order to ingest the same equivalent of alcohol as a few beers for a grown man.
Monkey thorn / Apiesdoring
Monkey thorn / ApiesdoringThis is a large tree with luxuriant, light green foliage. Its fast growth rate and attractive shape makes it ideal for a big garden, avenue or car park.
Botanical Name:
Senegalia galpinii
Did you know?
Many birds often prefer nesting in this tree as it provides protection.
Paperbark / Papierbas
Paperbark / PapierbasPure stands of these beautifully shaped trees with their perfectly flattened crowns are quite stunning. Where else but in Africa would you encounter such a sight?
Botanical Name:
Vachellia sieberiana woodii
Did you know?
It is a favoured nesting tree for Barbets. The Green Wood Hoopoe love probing under the yellow, papery, flaking bark for insects.
Red ivory / Rooi ivoor
Red ivory / Rooi ivoorThis medium-sized and neatly shaped tree normally grows in groups with other trees and is very attractive to birds. The leaves are glossy dark green above and pale green below. It’s generally a smaller tree than the berchemia discolor with smaller leaves and reddish fruit.
Botanical Name:
Berchemia zeyheri
Did you know?
The delicious fruits are eaten fresh. They may be stored in containers and the sticky sweet mass may still be edible after several months.
Silky thorn / Sydoring
Silky thorn / SydoringSuitable for medium-sized gardens – the silky thorn with red bark on the young stems glows in the sunlight while the mature bark has dark brown rough strips with a red background. This beautiful Acacia attracts birds, insects and butterflies besides making a wonderful garden plant.
Botanical Name:
Vachellia rehmanniana
Silver clusterleaf / Vaalboom
Silver clusterleaf / VaalboomThe silver clusterleaf has a spreading crown with horizontal branches. The bark is grey and deeply fissured. The grey-green leaves are clustered at branch ends and are covered in shiny, silvery hairs, making the whole tree look silvery from a distance.
Botanical Name:
Terminalia sericea
Did you know?
Terminalia sericea is important in traditional medicine. The leaves and roots are boiled in water and the infusion is taken orally for the treatment of coughs, diarrhoea and stomach ache. The leaves can be used as an antibiotic for wounds. In the case of bleeding, a paste can be made by cooking the leaves in water and placing them on the wounds.
Sweet thorn / Soetdoring
Sweet thorn / SoetdoringThe sweet thorn makes a beautiful garden specimen. The bright yellow flowers look very striking against the dark green foliage. The rough, dark brown bark is also most attractive. The flowers are sweetly scented and are renowned for attracting insects which are essential to any bird garden.
Botanical Name:
Vachellia karoo
Did you know?
This is one of South Africa’s most beautiful and useful trees. It is integrally part of our country’s history having been used for everything from raft-making to sewing needles and fencing for the houses of the royal Zulu women. The thorns were even used by early naturalists to pin the insects they collected! It is very widespread throughout southern Africa and there are different forms in some places, which can be confusing.
Toad tree / Padda boom
Toad tree / Padda boomA beautiful bushveld tree that can be recognised by its large, glossy leaves, fragrant white flowers and large fruit borne in pairs. With its unusual fruits it is excellent for gardeners wanting to bring nature back into their garden ? it attracts birds, insects and small mammals.
Botanical Name:
Tabernaemontana elegans
Did you know?
The seeds are burnt, grounded to a powder and mixed with tobacco for chewing or smoking by the Zulu people.
Umbrella thorn / Haak-en-steek
Umbrella thorn / Haak-en-steekA drought-resistant tree with the classic, umbrella-shaped canopy associated with thorn trees. Many bird species take advantage of the protection it offers and build their nests in the canopy.
Botanical Name:
Vachellia tortillis
