South Africa, located on the southern tip of the African continent, boasts a remarkable variety of flora and fauna perfectly adapted to its diverse climates and biomes. Covering 471,445 square miles and home to over 60 million people, South Africa includes eight different biomes, such as Nama-karoo, savannah, and forests.
Even though forests constitute only 1% of South Africa's land, they harbor some of the most stunning and unique trees on the planet. For tree enthusiasts, this country is an absolute must-visit.
Here are nine amazing trees native to South Africa:
1. Baobab (Adansonia digitata)
Upside-down giants with record-breaking lifespans, baobabs are the continent's (and possibly the planet's) most iconic and outlandish trees. The magnificent baobab tree (Adansonia digitata) is an icon of the African continent. With bark and fruit offering over 300 life-sustaining uses, it is the root of many Indigenous remedies, traditions, and folklore. Hence its literal nickname, ‘The Tree of Life.’
These huge trees are ecosystems for a myriad of birds, insects, mammals, and fungi.
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Baobab leaves are green and palmately compound with 5-11 leaflets. Leaves are deciduous and fall from the branches during the dry season.
Large white-yellow flowers emerge during the evening, but they are spent within 15 hours.
South Africa is home to an ancient baobab tree called the Sunland Baobab of Limpopo. Some estimates put it at 6,000 years old, and carbon dating proves it’s at least 1,000 years old. All baobabs hollow out over time, this is one’s hollow is so large its owners have installed a bar with a13 feet tall ceiling.
The African baobab’s leaves can be used either fresh, as a cooked vegetable, or dried and powdered as a functional ingredient (thickener) of soups and sauces. The fruits, called monkey-bread, contain a white, mealy, acidic tasting nutritious flesh that can be eaten as a sweet. The seeds yield an edible and pleasant tasting oil, and oil extraction results in an oil meal.
2. Spekboom (Portulacaria afra)
Spekboom is a succulent plant native to the Eastern Cape province in South Africa with tiny, bright green, circular leaves and a red-brown trunk. Spekboom is a succulent plant that often grows a chunky water-filled trunk and develops enough branches to turn into a small tree.
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Its circular leaves are tiny, bright green, and sprawl across its glossy red-brown trunk. After rainfall, masses of soft pink flowers bloom on branch tips.
Smaller leafs and less gel in the leafs but more active ingredients than in the Aloe vera. You can apply fresh aloe gel directly to your skin or follow a recipe to make a homemade beauty product. It can also be added to food, smoothies, and drinks.
3. Marula Tree (Sclerocarya birrea)
The marula tree is medium-sized at up to 59 feet tall and native to South Africa’s miombo woods. All subspecies have a grey mottled trunk with a wide spreading green crown. Traditionally the tree is used for everything from malaria cures to insecticide, not to mention as a food source - even more so in the summer months when the branches are often decorated with brightly coloured mopane worms, themselves an important source of protein for millions of people in southern Africa.
These fruits ripen from December to March and have delicious juicy yellow flesh that birds, insects, and mammals eat. The central pit contains up to four nutty-flavored seeds, and there’s some evidence that these native trees spread across South Africa with the Bantu tribes.
Collecting the fruit of wild marula tree is an important source of income for women in rural communities. The fruit is eaten at home, and sold at market; and the juice and pulp are mixed with water and fermented to make traditional marula beer.
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4. Mopane Tree (Colophospermum mopane)
Here’s one with some serious African roots - you won't find the mopane or 'butterfly tree' anywhere else on the planet!
The evergreen butterfly tree is native to South Africa and it only grows on the African continent. To beat the heat in its hot, dry habitat, the tree has developed butterfly-shaped leaves that open and close to control moisture loss. These leaves also give the tree its name: 'mopane' is the Shona word for butterfly.
New leaves appear in spring alongside tiny green flowers and they are eaten by grazing elephants. Mopane moths (Gonimbrasia belina) inhabit these trees and their caterpillars are eaten by rural folk. Because its oily hardwood is so versatile, it’s increasingly popular for woodwind instruments. Mopane wood is hard and difficult to work, but it’s termite-proof.
5. Quiver Tree (Aloidendron dichotomum)
Because of its distinctive beauty, the quiver tree has been named one of Namibia's national plants. The thick tree is actually a giant aloe in disguise, and has soft pulpy tissue in the trunk and branches rather than actual wood. Its name comes from the indigenous San people’s tradition of hollowing out the tubular branches to make quivers for their arrows.
The quiver tree (Aloidendron dichotomum) is actually a succulent plant and the largest aloe species in the world, capable of reaching 22 feet. The quiver tree is called the kokerboom tree in South Africa.
Quiver trees have wide gnarled gray trunks and many-branched crowns. They grow in rocky well-drained areas and need very little water, so their habitats are somewhat specialized. If you want to see this incredible South African native tree then head to the quiver tree forest in southern Namibia. There are 250 individuals there that grew spontaneously.
The native Namib people used hollowed-out quiver tree wood to make arrow quivers, hence its name. In traditional medicine, its roots treat respiratory illness, and its leaves are made into a pulp to treat bites and burns.
6. Sausage Tree (Kigelia africana)
It's not hard to figure out where the sausage tree gets its name. Weighing in at 5-10kgs, its hefty sausage-shaped fruit can make pretty dangerous projectiles for unwary passers-by or carelessly parked cars. That same fruit also makes the sausage tree a favourite with the local wildlife, from bush pigs and baboons to hippos and elephants (the animals kindly return the favour by dispersing the trees' seeds in their dung).
This native tree can reach 66 feet tall. Once pollinated, its 7-20 feet long pendulous flowers mature into two feet long sausage-like berries that are loved by savannah elephants, monkeys, parrots, and hippies, but beware!
7. Yellowwood (Afrocarpus falcatus)
Yellowwood trees are South Africa’s national tree and a protected species because habitat destruction and logging have decimated their numbers.
This is one of South Africa’s tallest trees. It can reach 100 feet tall! One species in the Tsitsikamma Forest is over 118 feet in height and over 600 years old.
My first role as an environmental education officer in 1986 was to take school learners to the magnificent “Big Tree” in the Tsitsikamma forests. The children would form a circle around it, holding hands as they leaned into the energy of the ancient tree. The Symbolism of the Yellowwood: Fertility and birth, Abundance and good fortune, Purification and cleansing, Good health, protection, and strength, Spiritual warrior, Inner purpose.
8. Fever Tree (Vachellia xanthophloea)
Check out the fever tree, one of the most incredible trees native to South Africa. It got the name from its preferred environment of marshy, moist lands where mosquitoes are prevalent. The fever tree gets its name from its tendency to grow near swampy areas - early European settlers in the region noted that malarial fever was often contracted in areas where these trees grew (of course, we now know this was a mosquito-related mistake!).
It has a smooth powdery lime green trunk, purple new twigs, and a crown of thorns. A fever tree can reach 82 feet tall and after rain its scented creamy flowers entice insects to pollinate.
These beautiful trees are a favourite in gardens and their feathery foliage is a choice home for birds, but they're not revered everywhere. Fast-growing and short-lived, they can stage a quick takeover on other plant species - in Australia, a fever tree cousin (Acacia nilotica) costs the grazing industry over $3 million annually!
9. Stinkwood (Ocotea bullata)
Let’s finish up with a flowering tree bearing the most unflattering name. It’s a large 100 feet tall tree with green glossy leaves with bubbles on the upper surface. It grows in high forests from Table Mountain and Limpopo, but very few remain near Table Mountain these days.
Its pretty yellow and white cup-shaped flowers are popular with insects such as honeybees and cape parrots enjoy its acorn-like fruits. Stinkwoods grow to hundreds of years old and create mini-ecosystems for South African wildlife.
Tree Symbolism
It’s one thing knowing the species name of a tree, what climate or soil conditions it needs to thrive, and even what its cultural significance means. But, using tree symbolism as part of your personal and spiritual development is an empowering tool many of us don’t even consider. By tapping into the vibrational energies of these magnificent plants, you’re absorbing the tree’s innate knowledge. Engaging with the essence of any tree beyond what you see with your physical senses allows you to connect with plants on an intuitive and creative level.
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Trees are magnificent vessels of ancient wisdom and healing properties. Using tree symbolism allows you to tap into magical and mystical resources that empower you to see your world with a whole new perspective. In my personal experience, I’ve used trees to energetically remind me of my growth and spiritual journey. I use the essence and wisdom of trees to guide me when I’m lost and need reassurance or to increase my vibrational energies when I’m feeling tired and weary of life. Trees are the cornerstone of my inner growth and hence, the name of my business, The Journey Tree.
