Doum Palm: Hyphaene compressa
The only multi-trunked palm seen in the area. The fruit (light brown when ripe) are eaten by baboons and elephants. The large strong leaves are used for building, and all the roofing in the lodge is made from locally collected doum palm leaves.

Borassus Palm: Borassus aethiopum
An unmistakable tall palm, whose straight trunk thickens towards the top. The fruits are large and a favourite of elephant, and the flesh covering the nut, although very fibrous, is full of a thick sweet orange juice, which is delicious.

Wild Date Palm/Pheonix Palm: Phoenix reclinata
This palm favours alkaline rich areas with plentiful water, and as a result they are prolific around the hot springs in the hills to the north of the lodge. The trunk is long and thin and almost always curved mid-way to give a reclining posture. The date-like fruit are edible to both birds and animals.

Tamarind: Tamarindus indica
An ancient tree, with references made to it in the Old Testament. Fruit edible, and used particularly for making chutneys and juices. Also believed to have medicinal benefits. There are two Tamarinds around the mess, one of which overhangs the veranda.

Baobab: Adansonia digitata
These trees are shrouded in local myths. Older specimens are believed to be over 3 thousand years old, with the one shading the swimming pool probably over 1,300 years and not yet in its prime. All parts of the tree have been utilised by humans over the millenia. The leaves are eaten as a form of spinach, juices made from the fruit, and the fruit kernels have been ground and roasted into coffee. The barks and stems make strong cord and hold valuable sources of drinking water (large specimens may contain up to 144 tonnes of water in their trunks). The branches are favourite nesting places for black headed weavers.

Leadwood: Combretum imberbe
This is a very hard and durable wood. African tribes since before the Iron Age have used the heartwood to make farm tools. It makes the best and most efficient camp firewood, burning hot and slowly. One of these trees can be seen growing through the back wall of the lodge mess. The wood of this tree is 1.2 times heavier than water.

Dobera loranthifolia
This tree is next to the swimming pool verandah and sitting area. The small green berries which turn bright orange when ripe, are a favourite of fruit-loving bulbuls during the day, and noisy bushbabies at night. The berries can also be eaten by humans.

Sausage Tree: Kigelia africana
One of these trees grows to the right of the path that goes down to the where the boats moared. The large, distinctive, sausage shaped fruits are eaten by elephants and monkeys, and the delicate red and white flowers are enjoyed by bats. The ashes of burnt ripe fruit are added to local beer to help in fermentation.

Grey Leaved Cordia: Cordia sinensis
In fruit, this is another haven for bulbuls, vervet monkeys and yellow baboons who relish the orange berries. Another fruit edible to humans, but needs a strong constitution! One of these trees can be found next to the steps going down to the river from the swimming pool.

Rain Tree: Lonchocarpus capasa
A heavy wood (air-dry 770kg/m3) whose name derives from the excreta of the pupa of a frog hopper which ‘rains’ from the bark at the end of the dry season in some parts of Africa. Its roots and bark, which contain a toxic glucose, are used to paralyse fish, by poachers. One of these is close to the steps down to the river. Elephants have a penchant for the leaves, but the tree is so strong, that even 7 tonnes of elephant weight finds it impossible to push one down to get access to the leaves at the top of the tree.

Marula: Scelerocarya birria
A very useful tree, utilised by both man and animals. Elephant and other animals love the fruit, which is said to ferment and intoxicate them. Fermented pulp is utilised by humans as a potent alcohol, and there is even a branded cream liqueur called Amarula, which is very popular. The Marula seeds contain three times the vitamin C content than ordinary citrus fruits. The seed nuts are rich in protein and oil, and can be eaten raw as well as cooked. A cut trunk will slowly ooze pure water. There is a Marula tree growing outside Cottage No 1.

African blackwood: Dalbergia melanoxylon
Not a true ebony, but is a substitute for many of the carvings that would have been otherwise made of ebony itself. The wood is very hard and darkens with age. It is very valuable, if found as a mature tree. This tree is also growing outside Cottage No.1, next to the Wildebeest skull.

Giant diospyrus: Diospyrus abbysinia/ruririana
A shrub/tree with dark bark. The roots are chewed as a form of toothpaste, and leave a tingling sensation in the mouth, not dissimilar from toothpaste. When in fruit (yellow round berries), it is favoured by bulbuls and black chested barbets. Civet cats and jackals also eat the berries.

Wing pod tree: Xeroderris stuhlmanii
A tree which sheds its leaves during the dry season. It is a very common woodland tree, and has very distinctive winged seedpods. It contains tannins and is used in the curing of leather. There is a specimen in front of the parking area at the lodge, and various in the woodland around.

Natal mahogony Trichelia emetica
A tree which grows close to water and as a result is common on the river banks. The scarlet coloured leaves are pretty, and if boiled they yield a good quality oil which is used to make soaps. The seeds are also used by man, taken internally to relief rheumatism.

Tambootie: Spirostachys africana
These trees thrive happily in wet, swampy ground. Latex, which is found in the sapwood, is extremely poisonous, and can cause blindness. However, the same substance cures toothache, if dropped carefully into a sore tooth cavity. There are specimens in all the semi-evergreen woodland around the lodge.

Hairy date tree: Balanites aegyptiaca
An evergreen tree found in dry wooded grasslands. The ripe fruits are edible both to man and animals (especially civets & monkeys). The seeds contain oil which is very rich and edible. The bark when soaked in water is an effective fish poison, and an infusion of the fruits and other parts of the tree is used to kill the bilharzia-carrying snail (but acts as a double-edged sword, since this infusion kills fish too).

Black monkey orange tree: Strychnos madagascarensis
Very conspicuous tree when in fruit, since the fruits look like small oranges. These fruits are edible, but the fruit kernels contain bitter poisonous alkaloids.

Bloodwood tree: Pterocarpus angolensis
Probably the most valuable wood in tropical southern Africa, with timber which is both durable, and aesthetically beautiful when finished. It can be most readily recognised by its circular fruits, covered with bristly coarse hair.

Fried egg tree: Oncoba spinosa
Also known as the snuff box tree. When in bloom, the flowers look like giant fried eggs with their vivid yellow yolk centres and ring of bright white petals. The fruit is spherical (brown when ripe) and very hard, making it almost impossible even for elephant to chew. They do however, eat this fruit, with elephant droppings regularly containing the indigestible parts.

African dog rose: Xylotheca tettensis
Another shrub whose flower mimics a fried egg! The grey/green fruit split when they are ripe to reveal maroon coloured seeds inside, which are dispersed by the pressure of the fruit splitting. This is a very common shrub around the lodge.

Wild jasmine: Jasminum fluminense
A shrub and climber, whose clove-like flowers have a lovely fragrance. The ripe black berry fruits are used as a dye, with the powder ground from dried fruit being used as an insecticide.

Desert rose: Adenium obesum
One of the most striking succulents, flowering bright pink and white throughout the year even in very dry areas. Unfortunately it is one of the very poisonous plants, who's root latex is used for poisoned arrows. There are many specimens in the flowerbeds by the ponds at front of the lodge.

Cassias & sennas:
These two families of tree are similar-looking, and until recently were both classified as cassias. The flowers are clusters of yellow, the seeds sitting in a bean-like pod. Several species are found around the lodge.

Asian witch or the witch weed: Striga asiatica
A very small herb seen during the rain season in sandy soils, it is a sign of infertile soil. The flowers are small bright red and are seen everywhere in the Miombo and its adjourning scrub bushes.

Kelanchoe succulent: Kelanchoe densiflora
Grows on poor, sandy soils, it has thin clusters of yellow flowers on the top of the circular stems lined with ear like circular leaves. Mostly seen under thorn bushes in scrub areas.

Ochna ovata and inermis
These trees are look alikes, both having yellow (bright) flowers, with small berry like green fruits but the flowers of the itermis change into maroon when they age. It is safe to call the ovata a yellow flowered ochna and the inermis the maroon flowered ochna of the Miombo woodland. Look for these bushes which flower almost throughout the year but more in the rainy season.

Lions paw: Leonitis nepetifolia/mollisina
A perenial herb of the miombo soils, the stems reach a height of up to two metres , the flowers are orange over a prickly round green ball resembling a lions paw thus the name. Dry specimens can be seen in the reception area of the mess (minus flowers, which fall after a short time).

Burning bushes: Combretum constrictum and paniculatum
These two bush combretums are natives of riverine or places where annual floods occur. The "constrictum" has ball like red flowers, while the "paniculatum" a twig, which is lined with red stamens and thus appearing as a bottle brush. Both are vines, though paniculatum is more viney. They flower mostly during the rains to form beautiful canopies of red flaming bushes.

Fireball lilly: Scadoxus multiflorus
Just before the rains this perennial big red flower ball with a receptacle of wide green leaves near the ground can not be missed in the sand soils of the Miombo woodland especially under multistemed Milletias which give shade to the plant.

Thunbergia holstii:
Driving around rocky patches and where the soil is rich in iron ore (red soil) at the commencing of the rains are seen short herbs with purple flowers shaped like miniature trumpets with yellow hearts.
Unfortunately they perish so fast after exposure to sunlight and thus this beautiful flower is mostly missed by people who like to do game drives but can not be missed by walkers who walk in the zone where these flowers abound

Siphonochilus aethiopicus:
A commonly seen herb, the leaves and stem wide although when still closed look like leeks; The light pink like flowers grow under the leaves at the base of the herb touching the soil. It is an all rounder and is commonly seen.

Ammocharis tinneana:
Another herb of the rainy season seen on the edges of roads especially in areas of clay and slightly alkaline soils, when not in flower can be mistaken for a fireball lilly but its flowers are long stems of pink, yellow and white and the leaves are blue green.

Optrex plant:Commelina
These grass herbs grow in any type of soil though prefer soils which are fertile. The flowers are small but bright blue. Some tribes use a sticky liquid secreted around the petals as a treatment for eye ailments.

Water lilly: Nymphaea caerulea
An unmistakable water plant found in long standing pools or lakes that are not very deep. Its leaves are free floating and are a wide heart shape. The flowers close at night and open up during the day into very beautiful light blue/purple multi-stamens.


Emmanuel Njawa
September 1999