Learning your trees is easy

Anyone keen to learn thier bushveld trees? African Resource in conjunction with Hospitality Afrika is launching their newest course pretty soon and its a don't miss occassion! Hosted in two locations (one in the Lowveld and one in the Bushveld near Bela Bela). Watch the October edition of Africa Geographic for details or check out the companies websites (to be posted on www.africanresource.co.za soon)

The tree course is designed for people who love the bush and want to know more about it. Trees are notoriously difficult to learn on one's own and the identification guides are often extremely technical. We make learning trees simple and enjoyable - they are all unique and there are simple ways to learn what's what. Not only that, plants are the medicine cabinet to indigenous people who have implicated them in remedies and ceremonies for years. Each tree in the Bushveld has a special value culturally not to mention ecologically. We aim to uncover this overlooked aspect of the bush for the participants. The focus will be on the most commonly encountered species including Jackalberry, Leadwood, Tamboti, Marula, Mopane, Boerbean, Bushwillows, Acacias, etc.

Each participant will get a copy of "Game Ranger in your Backpack" (authored by myself) The book is a naturalist's interpretative guide to the Lowveld and is packed with photographs and easily accessed information to continue the learning process on trees as well as mammals, birds, insects, reptiles and more. The course includes vibrant photographic presentations that will introduce the participants to each tree in detail before we head out into the bush to actually find them. We will then also collect samples and mount these in scapbooks for the participants to have a personal reference to take home.

Plums for the Chiefs

The great thing about the bush is that there is always something happening in spite of the weather or season. On a recent visit to the Pilanesberg Game Reserve in the North West Province (its a cool place, a natural system inside an ancient weathered volcano!) we stopped to stretch our legs at one of the picnic sites and to my suprise (and delight!) I spotted a Jacketplum in full fruit. Yes, this is me getting excited about a tree but its a really awesome tree that one seldom finds in fruit and when one does, one has to compete with baboons, monkeys and fruigivorous birds of every description to get a look in - especially this deep into winter! The fruit in the picture was sampled by myself immediately on taking the snapshot...and they were delicious!

Whats cool about this tree? The jacket plum (Pappea capensis) is often called the Indaba Tree. ‘Indaba’ is the Zulu word for 'meeting' and the tree was traditionally used as a meeting place. The boughs of a fully mature tree droop down towards the ground but do not become dense around the trunk. Tribal chiefs would hold meetings under the boughs of the jacket plum as they could be screened from view but could still see out through the branches to keep an eye on their village. The tree does not have a dense canopy generally and the hot air easily rises up from below, sucking in cooler air from the sides and providing a well air-conditioned conference facility.

The tree gets its name from the fruit which has a hard but velvety green skin. When it ripens, the fruit splits open along a clean seam revealing the juicy red flesh which makes the fruit look as if it were wearing a dinner jacket. The yummy fruit can be eaten as is or stewed up into a jelly preserve. Vinegar and an alcoholic beverage are also made from the fruit. Inside is a hard seed. This contains a great deal of viscous oil which may be extracted from the roasted seeds and traditionally this oil was used for curing baldness and ringworm. It has been used more recently by farmers to oil their rifles. The oil is edible but may have a purgative effect if consumed. It is also used for soap making and as a lubricant.

When not in fruit, the Jacketplum is one of the easiest bushveld trees to identify as it has especially distinctive bark - the bark is mostly smooth and looks as though it’s been sponged down with two tones of grey paint but older sections form rougher, blacker blocks that resemble small bricks on a peeling plastered wall. The bark has been used in the past to cure venereal diseases.