K

Kareeboom (Rhus Lancea)

Rhus lancea L.f. (syn. Searsia lancea (L. f.) F. A. Barkley), commonly known as Karee (English and Afrikaans) in Hlokoshiyne (isiZulu) Umhlakotshane (amaXhosa) Mokalaabata (North Sotho). Evergreen, frost hardy, drought resistant tree, which can reach up to 8 metres in height with a 5 metre spread. It has a graceful, weeping form and dark, fissured bark that contrasts well with its long, thinnish, hairless, dark-green, trifoliate leaves with smooth margins. It bears small yellow flowers followed on female trees by bunches of small yellow-green flattish fruits, which are relished by birds. In earlier times the fruits were pounded, water added and left to ferment, producing an evidently refreshing beer. The tree is a good shade tree for gardens, parks and pavements and is one of the most common trees on the Highveld and in the Bushveld in South Africa, but not found in the Lowveld. It favours areas rich in lime in the Karoo and Namibia. The name Rhus is derived from the Greek for "red", an allusion to the striking autumn colours of some species, while lancea refers to the lance-shaped leaves and Karee is derived from Karoo.

Koorsboom (Acacia Xanthophloea) (Fever Tree)

Acacia xanthophloea (Fever Tree) is a tree which is native to the following countries in Africa: Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe. [1] It has also become a landscape tree in other warm climates. It grows naturally in Zimbabwe and South Africa near the Limpopo River, as immortalized by Rudyard Kipling in his Just So Stories. The name comes indirectly from its tendency to grow in swampy areas. Early settlers in the region thought that malarial fever was contracted from being around the trees, when in fact the fever was spread by mosquitos living in the swamp.

It is rare as it is the few trees where photosynthesis takes place in the bark of the tree as the leaves are very small. It also grows a "sacrificial limb" which appears as a dead branch, and is used to dump unwanted nutrients from the soil.


		A

		N


	B

	O


	C

	P


	D

	Q


	E

	R


	F

	S


	G

	T


	H

	U


	I

	V


	J

	W


	K

	X


	M

	Z