Hugh Vandervaes Lely

“ The botanical name, being universal, is always given preference. The native names, variable and unreliable as they often are, should be a secondary consideration, their importance resting in their being a means of communication with the native rather than a short cut to the botanical names. In a country where there are several native names for one tree or one native name for several distinct species, the knowledge gained is either limited to a small number of trees or applicable to a small area of country. ”

“ Savannah is a particularly aggressive form of forest growth. Given the opportunity, it at once occupies more land and on its own ground the inferior types oust the superior wherever there is an opening. Any extensive area of cultivation, if abandoned and allowed to regenerate its tree growth, lets in secondary forests containing species which are less exacting as to soil and moisture conditions, and the depreciation of these conditions to the farming methods stops the competitive growth of the trees which formerly occupied the area. ”

“ A medium-sized tree or shrub, in which latter form it occurs over large areas of country as pure growth, particularly as secondary growth in farmed land, where it is a great pest to the farmer who desires to continue sowings. It grows prolifically from stumps which the farmer does not trouble to uproot. It is very fond of small, shallow depressions, where it will grow to the exclusion of all else. In its proper habitat it will grow over 30 feet high with a girth of 8-10 feet, with short bole and an enormous rounded crown of dense foliage affording good shade. ”

“ The savannah species are, then, well equipped to withstand fire, drought, insects, wounds, storms, and damage by man and it can be imagined how readily they will supplant better types, since the harder the conditions the better adapted are the trees to meet them. The wide distribution of most species renders them more aggressive, and an individual species that will grow into a fine tree under the best conditions can still grow under the worst, though it may differ in form and feature so as to be hardly recognisable as the same species. ”

“ The species is readily distinguished at a distance by its feathery, birch-like foliage and drooping branches, which, at first acutely ascending, bend over and droop in graceful curves. A light-demander, its branches are extremely persistent on the stem and only where it is very densely grown, preferably with an admixture of shade-bearing species, will clean boles be found. Examples grown in the open, or suddenly freed from the forest by the clearing for cultivation, are covered with small twigs and the foliage extends almost to ground level. ”

“ Timber value is of little account in regions where it is inaccessible and unexploitable. Food, medicinal and other values take precedence where there is a large population demanding economic produce, and many species must be accounted valuable merely as a soil covering for the prevention of denudation, fixation of shifting surfaces, protection of new growth, grazing areas, precipitation of moisture, retention of conditions advantageous to [ix] agriculture or as a basis for the introduction of new, or the encouragement of existing valuable trees from the forestry standpoint. ”

“ Few trees have to wait for rain before they produce all the signs of maturity except the complete growth of their leaves. The bark of young seedlings, subject to fire, is very thick and corky and that of old trees is still more so, while the inner layers are fibrous and full of sap. Almost all species will coppice very well, many throwing up shoots up to 10 feet high in a season, others only a foot or two. Root shoots are also very common and a large number of what are apparently seedlings in the forest are root shoots. ”

“ There are many instances of valuable products being obtained from forests which are not only some distance from habitations but whose soil is of a nature that precludes any possibility of supporting a population, since it will not produce crops. ”

“ The Wood is a rich red-brown, more red than brown. The sapwood is grey. In transverse section the rings show as darker bands of varied width and the colour is darker in this section. The pores are numerous, in festoons of various lengths, or single, and a few nests, the whole densely and evenly distributed and the soft tissue plainly visible to the unaided eye as waves and specks in the dark hard tissue. The rays are straight, unevenly spaced, some being only the width of a ray apart, others far apart, some visible to the naked eye. ”

“ The crown, in the case of trees grown in the open, comes to within 6-10 feet of the ground. Examples growing in the forest exhibit a distinct form, with longer boles and higher, more cylindrical crowns, and the branches ascend at an acute angle to the stem. It is a prolific fruiting species, but more often than not the fruits are burnt on the ground by the grass fires which occur from December on, the months when the fruits fall. It grows very well from the seeds which retain their germinating qualities for some time. ”

“ The springing of the leaves from the end 2 inches of the twigs gives the idea of a rosette. The margin of the leaf is waved.
The Flowers are in round heads, 2-3 inches across, at the tips of the leafless twigs and appear from December onwards. Each flower is cream-white in colour, has 8 sepals in two rows, 8 petals, 8 stamens and a central, petal-like crown round the ovary, consisting of abortive stamens (staminodes) . The flowers are sweet, with a rather nauseating perfume. As they die off, the young leaves shoot from the middle of the head. They are visited by bees. ”

“ The lengths of the flowering seasons are due chiefly to the wide distribution of the trees and do not necessarily represent the lengths of time individuals will bear flowers. Few species, in fact, bear flowers for longer than one month; many for only a few days, but a journey from north to south will show the effects of varying humidity on the flowering season. Such an influence may be counteracted by the date on which a fire swept through the country, fires exerting a quickening influence on the flowering to a marked degree. ”

“ This list will illustrate, also, the effect of fires at various times of the dry season on the different species, which may be more exactly determined by making an allowance for the situation of a forest in terms of degrees latitude. In this connection attention may be drawn to the large number of species whose fruits or seeds persist on the branches until the rainy season of the following year, and which will be destroyed by such fires. Only those species whose fruit forms and falls in the rains of the year in which it flowered will stand a fair chance of germinating. ”

“ The female flowers are almost invisible at first but grow into sight very rapidly after fertilisation. They consist of a calyx with long red sepals, varying in number from 5-8, and an ovary with two styles which become very prominent and grow long. These are wrinkled and bent or twisted and beneath them the ovary enlarges till it is about an inch long and 11⁄4 inches broad, gradually changing from the limp green to the dark red double-seeded, winged fruit so familiar in masses and often persistent till the new leaves of the following year. ”

“ Trees in a 25 feet forest have girths of, as a rule, not more than 2-3 feet, and the crown is 3⁄4 of the total height, and narrow, the branches ascending vertically. A girth of 5-6, or more, feet is common in trees 50 feet high. The species is very susceptible to fire and the majority of large trees have hollow centres from this cause. The stem is often a mere shell, filled with the earth of white ants or with a copious volume of reddish sap which flows out and bubbles up from the base when felled. ”

“ Most trees are anchored very firmly to the ground by lateral roots far longer than the height of the tree, a protection against storms. A tree which is completely ringed will often endeavour to join up the cut, meanwhile continuing its season’s foliage, while the smallest connection with the root is sufficient for it to live for many years. ”

“ The Fruits are drupes, or small plums, in a ring round the much swollen torus or disc. The sepals enlarge and turn crimson, as does the disc, and the seeds, at first green, turn black and shiny, shrivelling when the surrounding pulp dries up. The branches are often borne down by the weight of the large crop of fruit which is a most conspicuous feature. The elongated pistil and the remains of the stamens appear like bristles on the torus. Most of the seeds are destroyed by a grub. ”

“ The Bark is a light, slightly bluish-tinted grey, fairly smooth, with large, thin, very hard, rounded scales which come away from the lower end, remaining attached to the tree at the upper end and giving the rather curious look of sliding down the tree. ”

“ A small, erect tree from 10-25 feet high which will grow in the extreme north in the driest and most barren of soils. It flourishes round the parallel 14° north and extends right down to the extreme south also. It is often a stunted, shrub-like tree growing in quantities on bare, hard, stony soils, but in more open sandy localities will grow a 15 feet bole with an open light crown composed of erect, slender branches. Old trees spread wide and give a little shade. It can be at once distinguished by the silvery glister of its leaf on the under side and by the spikes of closed flowers. ”

“ The advance of agriculture or the condensing of population intensifies these values by the destruction of the better types in favour of the poorer, and by the increased demand for the products of the better types. ”

“ In sand or laterite it will not thrive, but it will flourish on bare granite where its roots can make their way into crevices. In some suitable localities it forms almost pure forest and is a very handsome species under those circumstances. The leaf, flower, fruit or bark are all distinctive. Another closely allied species, B. odorata, differs only in having a branched panicle in place of the bunch of racemes of B. Dalzielii. When young or middle-aged the stem is erect and the limbs ascend steeply forming a high crown, foliated down to a low point. ”

“ The Flowers are white and can be found all the year round, though the proper flowering season is in the rains or towards the end of them. They are in small racemes at the twig ends, pendulous amongst the leaves, 3⁄4 inch long, with a calyx which splits partially into five parts, remaining attached at the tips and opening beneath, 5 white petals, spoon-shaped with narrow base and broad, pointed tip, 10 white stamens with light brown anthers and a tuft of hairs at the base of each, and a clubbed pistil. ”

“ There are small, rounded root-flanges. All trees near habitation are owned by the individual. Those in the forests have a different habit of growth, the bole being longer, the branches more erect and the crown less spreading. The large crowns of the park trees are generally due to the cutting of the branches for fuel. See Uses. The tree pollards well and shoots readily from the stool. It is liable to attack from white ants when young, and to the ravages of caterpillars which may completely defoliate the tree.
The Bark is dark brown or dull grey, with small, regular scales of varying roughness. ”

“ The stem branches generally low down, occasionally at a height of 8-10 feet, and the branches are vertical, so that the tree has no width of crown. Owing to the scarcity of the smaller branches the vertical ones are crowded with leaves, and from February to April with flowers, for several feet, there being no side twigs, these being replaced by small shoots covered with bracts.
The Bark is silvery grey with a soft sheen, smooth and very thick, large scales peeling off in season. The effect of fire on young stems is to produce great bosses of light brown cork, often charred. ”

“ Most of them are prolific seeders and many have the habit of retaining their fruits or seeds on the tree for many months, sometimes right round to the next flowering season. Germination of seeds is a matter of chance when the tree is liable to ground fires from October to April or May. The life of a seedling, too, is precarious, since at the age of six months it may be subject to a devastating fire. ”

“ The short heavy bole gives a large volume of timber, but the bole length rarely exceeds 12 feet from which point the much bent branches form a large, round, open crown giving little shade. The pinnate foliage, red flower-spikes or yellow plums distinguish it. Owing to its use for native mortars enormous waste takes place, one mortar being carved from trees which will provide three or four, the rest being allowed to rot or burn. Quite large limbs can be pulled off by hand as they snap very readily. It is not very fast growing and seedlings branch at ground level. ”

“ The Flowers are pendulous balls some 21⁄2 inches in diameter on a 7 inch stalk. They appear in March before the new leaves or with them and are dark red in colour and sweet-scented. They consist of 10 long, red stamens with black anthers and a simple style, in a 5-lobed calyx with honey glands. The flowers are visited both by bees and flies. Called “tutu” by the native, boys suck the balls for the honey. The flower-buds are called “gundar tutu.”
The Fruit is a bean, some 9 inches long, dark brown in colour, in pendulous clusters on the tree in July. When young they are called “sabada” ”

“ Each flower is 1⁄2 inch across, with five small green sepals, five longer and darker green petals, ten short yellow stamens and a shining dark green ovary with short, blunt pistil. The tree sometimes flowers out of season.
The Fruits, which ripen from February onwards, are 11⁄4 inches long and about an inch wide on a short stalk. At first green with a wrinkled, nipple-like tip, they turn yellow on ripening, when they have a thin hard skin, a light brown, sticky, edible flesh and a large, hard, pointed stone. There is a space between the flesh and the skin. ”