Red beech | |
---|---|
![]() | |
![]() | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Sapindales |
Family: | Anacardiaceae |
Genus: | Protorhus |
Species: | P. longifolia |
Binomial name | |
Protorhus longifolia | |
![]() | |
Synonyms | |
|
Protorhus longifolia, the red beech, is a medium to large, mostly dioecious species of tree in the family Anacardiaceae. It is native to South Africa and Eswatini, where it occurs in well-watered situations from coastal elevations to 1,250 m. [2] The leafy, evergreen trees have rounded crowns and usually grow between 6 and 10 m tall, but regularly taller in forest. [2]
In South Africa they occur from the Eastern Cape to Limpopo. [3] In Eswatini it is present in the western uplands, and in the Lebombo regions. [4] They occur in coastal, scarp and mistbelt forests, rock outcrops, escarpments, riparian fringes, or in woodland. [5]
The bole is up to 1 m in diameter in forest. The bark of a young tree is smooth and brown, but becomes darker and rough with age. [5] The branches have a rough texture and retain leaf scars. [2] They exude a sticky milky sap when broken. [5]
The trees often carry some strikingly yellow or red leaves, especially in winter [2] or on new growth. The simple leaves resemble Mango leaves, and have a scattered, alternate or subopposite arrangement. [5] They measure up to 15 by 3 cm, [2] and are paler below than above. They are glabrous and leathery in texture, and linear-oblong to narrowly elliptic in shape. [6] The leaf margins may be frilled or wavy and are tightly rolled under. [5] [7]
The primary, lateral veins have a straight and parallel arrangement. They terminate on, and often fork near the leaf margin. There are up to 40 veins a side, [2] which are prominently raised below. [6] They are light in colour, contrasting with the dark, glossy upper surfaces. [8]
The flowers are small (±4 mm in diameter) and are carried in axillary [2] or terminal panicles. [3] They are greenish-white (male) [4] or pink to red, and appear in early spring (August to October). [7] The ovary is ovoid and the calyx is saucer-shaped. The floral parts are in fives, [7] but female flowers have three styles. [4]
The indehiscent fruit which appear from October to December, are smooth, fleshy drupes [6] that mature to a pale mauve colour [8] in autumn. [2] Each contains a single seed. [6] (cf. Ozoroa )
Various forest mammals and birds feed on the fruit while on the tree, or after they are dropped, while the bark and foliage are browsed by Black rhino. [3]
The fine-grained wood has been used for furniture, planks [3] [5] and fence posts, [9] but is not considered very durable. [7] The ground up bark, though somewhat poisonous, is used as "red" muti (Zulu: uMuthi-embomvu). [5] The sticky milky sap has been used a glue, for instance to fix assegai blades to their handles, or as a depilatory. [7]
The species can be cultivated from fresh seed and does well in gardens. They are useful as specimen trees or screening plants, [8] and grow relatively fast, up to 80 cm a year. [3] Though it thrives in warm, moist regions, it is also tolerant of drought and slight frost. [8]
Synsepalum brevipes is a shrub or medium-sized to large tree in the family Sapotaceae, that is native to the African tropics and subtropics.
Senecio barbertonicus, the Barberton groundsel or succulent bush senecio, is an evergreen succulent shrub of the family Asteraceae and genus Senecio, native to Southern Africa, named after one of its native localities Barberton and is now also being cultivated elsewhere for its drought resistance, clusters of sweetly scented, golden-yellow, tufted flower heads in winter and attractiveness to butterflies, the painted lady butterfly in particular.
Elsa Pooley, is a South African botanist, landscaper, tour guide, and artist.
Barringtonia racemosa is a tree in the family Lecythidaceae. It is found in coastal swamp forests and on the edges of estuaries in the Indian Ocean, starting at the east coast of Mozambique and KwaZulu-Natal to Madagascar, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Maldives, Thailand, Laos, southern China, northern Australia, coastal Taiwan, the Ryukyu Islands and many Polynesian islands.
Croton sylvaticus is a tree in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is commonly known as the forest fever-berry. These trees are distributed in forests from the east coast of South Africa to Tropical Africa. It grows 7–13 metres (23–43 ft) in height, occasionally up to 30 metres (100 ft), in moist forests, thickets and forest edges at altitudes of 350–1,800 metres (1,100–5,900 ft).
KwaZulu-Natal coastal lowland forest is a subtropical forest type that was once found almost continuously along the low-lying coastal areas of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It still exists in protected areas, but much has been cleared for sugar-cane plantations and housing developments.
Deinbollia oblongifolia is a shrub or small tree in the family Sapindaceae. It is commonly known as the dune soap-berry and is found in coastal vegetation from the Eastern Cape of South Africa, through KwaZulu-Natal to southern Mozambique and Eswatini. It is named after Peter Vogelius Deinboll (1783–1876), a Danish botanist and plant collector.
Margaritaria discoidea is a tree in the family Phyllanthaceae, commonly known as the pheasant-berry, egossa red pear or bushveld peacock-berry. These trees are native to the warmer, higher rainfall areas of Africa.
Bridelia micrantha, the mitzeeri or the coastal golden-leaf, is a tree in the family Phyllanthaceae and is native to tropical and southern Africa as well as to the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean.
Capparis fascicularis, the zigzag caper-bush, is a plant in the Capparaceae family and is native to Africa.
Combretum kraussii, the forest bushwillow, is a medium-sized to large tree of eastern South Africa, Eswatini and southern Mozambique, which is found within, or in the vicinity of forests. The specific name commemorates Dr. F. Krauss who undertook a collecting trip to South Africa from 1838 to 1840.
Erianthemum dregei is a species of parasitic plant in the family Loranthaceae, and is commonly known as the hairy mistletoe or wood flower.
Ficus sur, with the common names Cape fig and broom cluster fig, is a widespread Afrotropical species of cauliflorous fig.
The Ficus sansibarica, known as knobbly fig, is an African species of cauliflorous fig. It is named after Zanzibar, where Franz Stuhlmann discovered it in 1889. They often begin life as epiphytes, which assume a strangling habit as they develop. They regularly reach 10 m, but may grow up to 40 m tall as forest stranglers.
The river sandpaper fig is a fig shrub or small tree of the western and eastern Afrotropics. It is typically found around pans or flood plains, or along riparian fringes in tropical or subtropical savanna regions, but is absent from the tropical rainforest zone. Despite its regular scrambling habit it may attain a height of 7 to 10 m.
Ficus craterostoma, a species of strangler fig, is a fig shrub or tree of the Afrotropics that may grow up to 20 m tall. It is found in lowland tropical and swamp forests in the west, or in afromontane forests, including rocky situations, along Africa's eastern escarpments. The western and eastern populations may constitute separate species, as they occur at different altitudes where their ranges meet in central Africa, while they seem to have exclusive pollinating wasp species.
Euclea crispa, commonly known as the blue guarri, is an Afrotropical plant species of the family Ebenaceae. The hardy and evergreen plants may form a dense stand of shrubs, or grow to tree size. It is widespread and common in the interior regions of southern Africa, and occurs northward to the tropics. Though some are present near the South African south and east coasts, they generally occur at middle to high altitudes. It is readily recognizable from its much-branched structure and dull bluish foliage colour. Those bearing lanceolate leaves may however resemble the Wild olive, another common species of the interior plateaus.
Dalbergia armata is a scrambling, deciduous species of legume that is native to subtropical to temperate regions of southeastern Africa. The robust, woody liana or small tree is armed with strong spines on the main stem and branches. It occurs sparsely or commonly in forest, bush, riparian fringes and in wooded ravines. It is sometimes employed as a bonsai subject, and it can be propagated from either seed or cuttings.
Zanthoxylum davyi, the forest knobwood, is a dioecious species of plant in the family Rutaceae. It is native to the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces of South Africa, western Eswatini and eastern Zimbabwe. It occurs in coastal and mistbelt forests, and grows some 10 to 24 m tall.
Boscia foetida, commonly known as the stink shepherd's tree and the smelly shepherd's bush, is an evergreen shrub or tree that is native to the warmer and drier parts southern Africa. It is found in semi-desert and arid bushveld, and in the west it occurs commonly in areas which are otherwise sparsely wooded. It is known for the particularly unpleasant smell of its flowers which appear during early spring, to which its specific name foetida alludes. Its freshly cut wood likewise has an unpleasant smell, and has traditional medicinal and magical uses, for instance as a protection against lightning. In central Botswana the village of Mopipi is named after this species.