Published by WML Consulting Engineers Production: Andri Marais Design & Layout: OpenOrigin Maps: Tree Atlas of Namibia Scientific editing: Coleen Mannheimer Photographs & copyright in photographs: Coleen Mannheimer, Wessel Swanepoel & Andri Marais Content of this booklet was principally obtained from Mannheimer, C.A. & Curtis, B.A. (eds) 2009. Le Roux and Muller’s Field Guide to the Tree and Shrubs of Namibia. 23. Commiphora gariepensis 24. Commiphora giessii 25. Commiphora gracilifrondosa 26. Commiphora kraeuseliana INSIDE 27. Commiphora namaensis 28. Commiphora oblanceolata 1. Acacia nigrescens 29. Commiphora saxicola 2. Acacia erioloba 30. Commiphora virgata 3. Acanthosicyos horridus 31. Commiphora wildii 4. Adansonia digitata 5. Adenia pechuelii 32. Cyphostemma bainesii 6. Adenium boehmianum 7. Afzelia quanzensis 8. Albizia anthemintica 9. Aloe dichotoma 10. Aloe pillansii 33. Cyphostemma currorii 11. Aloe ramosissima 34. Cyphostemma juttae 12. Baikiaea plurijuga 35. Cyphostemma uter 13. Berchemia discolor 36. Dialium engleranum 14. Boscia albitrunca 37. Diospyros mespiliformis 15. Burkea africana 38. Elephantorrhiza rangei 16. Caesalpinia merxmuellerana 39. Entandrophragma spicatum 17. Citropsis daweana 42. Euclea pseudebenus 18. Colophospermum mopane 43. Faidherbia albida 19. Combretum imberbe 44. Ficus burkei 20. Commiphora capensis 45. Ficus cordata 21. Commiphora cervifolia 46. Ficus sycomorus 22. Commiphora dinteri 47. Guibourtia coleosperma 48. Hyphaene petersiana 69. Sesamothamnus leistneri 40. Erythrina decora 70. Spirostachys africana 41. Euclea asperrima 71. Strygnos potatorum 49. Kirkia dewinteri 50. Lannea discolor 51. Maerua schinzii 52. Moringa ovalifolia 53. Neoluederitzia sericeocarpa 54. Ozoroa concolor 55. Ozoroa namaquensis 72. Sterculia africana 73. Sterculia quinqueloba 74. Strychnos cocculoides 75. Strychnos pungens 76. Strychnos spinosa 77. Tamarix usneoides 78. Tylecodon paniculatus 56. Pachypodium lealii 79. Welwitschia mirabilis 57. Pachypodium namaquanum 80. Ziziphus mucronata 58. Pappea capensis 59. Philenoptera violacea 60. Protea gaguedi 61. Pterocarpus angolensis 62. Salix mucronata 63. Schinziophyton rautanenii 64. Schotia afra var. angustifolia 65. Sclerocarya birrea 66. Searsia lancea 67. Sesamothamnus benguellensis 68. Sesamothamnus guerichii ICON INDEX Beverage Hygiene Fruit, roots or leaves can be used Ash can be used as a toothpaste, to make non-alcoholic or alcoholic stems and twigs can be used as beverages. toothbrushes. Birds Inedible Birds eat the fruit and/or seeds. Also Fruit and/or leaves not safe for used as shelter and nesting. human consumption. Construction Illegally harvested Wood used as timber to build walls, Harvested for the horticultural trade. and roofs. Cosmetic Insects Extracts for Perfume and essential Home to caterpillars. oils. Edible Livestock Safe for human consumption. Flowers, leaves, shoots and/or pods are browsed by livestock e.g goats, cattle. Endemic/Near Endemic Medicinal Species occuring only in Namibia or The roots, bark and/or the leaves just beyond. have known medicinal uses. Endangered/Rare Smoking According to Namibian Red List. Pods can be crushed and mixed with tobacco to create a smoking mixture & snuff. Fuel Thatching Sought after for good quality Used to make thatching for gazebos firewood. and huts. Furniture Making Tools & Utensils Wood can be used in furniture Tree sap used as arrow poison/ stem making, flooring, canoes, dishes/ used as arrow quivers and to make spoons, sleepers. utensils. Game Weaving Flowers, leaves, shoots and/or pods Used to make ropes, hats, baskets, are browsed by a variety of wild mats and sacks/bags. animals. Honey Worth cultivating for honey production because of pollen making abilities. Used to carry honeycombs. Acacia nigrescens knob-thorn, mungandu, knoppiesdorn, ghughandutji, mukotokoto Identification: Value: Single-stemmed, erect, deciduous tree up to 20 m. o Bark yellowish grey, longitudinally fissured, often with thorns raised on large knobs. The leaves are browsed by game. o Thorns paired, strongly curved, black, hair The wood is used in construction, to less, bases well separated. make utensils, as fuelwood, to make o Leaves bipinnately compound, spirally rope, and for tanning. It also retains arranged, leaflets large, dark and stabilizes riverbanks. green to grey-green above, pale green below, sparsely downy. o Fruit an oblong, straight, flattened, leathery, brittle pod; splitting open when mature. 1 Acacia erioloba camel-thorn, kameeldoring, omuthiya, omumbonde, kameel- dornbaum, ||ganab Identification: Value: Semi-deciduous or deciduous tree, up to 20m high. o Bark dark grey, rough, vertical fissures. o Thornes sharp, straight, paired at nodes, The flowers, shoots and pods are grey-white. eaten by livestock and game. Pods o Leaves bipinnately compound, spirally are very nutritious, consisting of arranged, leaflets dull olive-green, smooth. almost 14% protein, but contain o Flowers golden-yellow. Inflorescence a sufficient prussic acid to cause stock round head on a stalk. losses. The wood has many uses – o Fruit a woody pod, ear-shaped with short, in building houses, as firewood, for grey down. smoking meat, to make axe-handles and in the construction of fences. In Kavango, it is used to make pestles for grinding ‘Mahangu’. The bark is used in the firing of clay pots. Resin is edible when fresh and is used as a remedy for stomach ache. Seeds can be roasted and used as a substitute for coffee beans. 2 Acanthosicyos horridus nara, !nara, botterpitte, omungaraha Identification: Value: Much-branched, spreading shrub, arching branches o Bark grey, longitudinally fissured, inner Second only to the welwitschia, the bark bright yellow. young branchlets grey- nara is one of the most characteristic green, with paired straight thorns. plants of the Namib Desert. The soft o Leaves absent. growing tips are eaten by ostrich and o Flowers yellow-green, bell-shaped, small mammals eat the seed once separate male & female plants. the fruit has broken open. The fruit o Fruit a melon, covered in hard, thick, is eaten by game such as springbok spine-like protruberances. and rhino. The fruit is also suitable for human consumption - raw, cooked or dried. The seeds taste similar to almonds, are very nutritious, and can be eaten raw or roasted. 3 Adansonia digitata baobab, kremetartboom, omukwa, lemonade tree, affenbrot- baum, divuyu, #’òm Identification: Value: Up to 20 m high, characteristically massive trunk. o Bark smooth, pinkish-brown to grey- Leaves provide excellent fodder brown, often convoluted. for cattle. Young leaves and twigs o Leaves of young trees simple, older trees are boiled to make soup. The hard 5-7-palmately compound. shell of the fruit is used as a water o Flowers pure white, hanging on long container or snuff-box. The flesh stalks, 5 crinkled, waxy petals curl back, of the fruit contains tartaric acid, numerous stamens fuse to form a column. Vitamin C and sugar and is eaten o Fruit olive green, velvety covering. directly by sucking or cooked with porridge and other dishes. Fermented fruit flesh is used as a raising-agent in bread-baking. Seed is eaten raw or roasted and ground and used as a coffee-substitute. The white root of germinating seeds is eaten like asparagus. Tubers borne at root tips are dried, crushed and made into porridge. Bark fibres are used as rope and sap from bark as thirst-quencher. Ash from burned wood can be used as a substitute for salt. 4 Adenia pechuelii elephants-foot, wüstenkohlrabi Identification: Value: Unusual squat plant with large, swollen, tuber-like smooth grey-green stem up to 1 m or more in height and diameter. Unique, somewhat grotesque plant o Branches numerous, short, thick, rigid, endemic to rocky outcrops of the blue-green, grooved, tapering to a point. Namib Desert. o Leaves few, simple, often absent, leathery, blue-green. o Flowers small, cup-shaped, male and female on separate plants o Fruit a round, three-lobed capsule, red when ripe. 5 Adenium boehmianum bushman poison, ouzuwo Identification: Value: Deciduous, few-stemmed shrub, succulent trunk. o Bark Smooth, grey-brown. o Leaves simple, spirally arranged or The Bushman poison contains terminally clustered, elliptic, slightly a milky sap that is used by the longitudinally folded, dark green San people as an arrow poison. It above, paler below flowers abundantly for almost six with prominent veins. months of the year and is becoming o Flowers tubular, pink with darker throat; increasingly popular in gardens. It is corolla lobes whorled. unfortunately being unsustainably o Fruit paired, dry cylindrical capsules; seeds harvested for the horticultural trade. with a tuft of silky hairs at each end. 6 Afzelia quanzensis pod mahogany, mwanda, schoten-mahogani Identification: Value: Semi-deciduous to deciduous, spreading crown. o Trunk up to 1.6 m in diameter. o Bark purplish-grey to pale brown, smooth The leaves and flowers of the pod or reticulate, flaking in thick, round discs. mahogany are browsed by game and o Leaves paripinnate, alternate, leaflets the seeds are eaten by rodents and opposite, hairless, glossy with prominent various bird species. Seeds are strung veins, dark green above, lighter below. into necklaces and sold as curios. A o Flowers with single, conspicuous, orange- root extract is used to treat various red petal; sweetly scented. ailments such as influenza, bilharzia o Fruit thick, woody, flattened, black pod. and eye diseases. The bark is used Splits open into 2 valves. Black seeds with