Meet the trees of Namibia

THIS tree which can grow up to 6m is quite easy to identify. It usually has a thick-set, single stem tapering to the top, crowned by a few very spiny branches near the apex.

The trunk is succulent, grey to reddish brown with darker horizontal scars. During July and August it is decorated with lovely white and pink flowers with frilly petals. Paired, cylindrical, horn-shaped fruits, measuring about 11 x 1 cm, appear from November onwards

The botanical name Pachypodium means ‘thick foot’ and refers to the thickened base of this tree. The Austrian botanist Welwitsch gave this tree the specific name lealii in honour of the Portuguese cartographer Fernando da Costa Leal whose maps of Angola proved to be very useful on his travels in that country in the latter part of the 19th century.

You can find this tree on rocky hill-sides from about Otjiwarongo northwards up to the Kunene River as well as in the Karstveld, often on north to northwest-facing slopes. It seems to prefer dolomite and can be spotted from the B1 north of Otavi, where that road winds down from the so-called 10-mile pass towards Tsumeb. Bottle trees can also be seen along the tree trails established by some of the lodges northwest of Outjo. In Windhoek it may be viewed on the eastern hill of the National Botanical Garden.

The leaves are entirely egg-shaped to oblong, with short hairs on both surfaces and no petiole. They are clustered at the tips of the branches and the leaf margins are very wavy.

The numerous long, slender spines reach a length of up to 3 cm and grow all along the branches.

The showy white flowers with wavy petals have a diameter of up to 6 cm. They appear in clusters in spring before the leaves emerge and are flushed with pink on the outside and down the central tube.

When ripe, the pale brown paired fruits split open to release numerous seeds, each with a tuft of silvery hairs about 2 cm long.

Uses: The bottle tree exudes a watery latex, which affects the heart and was used by San hunters as one of the ingredients of their arrow-poison. In Kaokoland the juice extracted from the soft pulp of this tree is used to cure infected wounds and earache. In spite of the poisonous sap, the trunk is frequently chewed by porcupines.

A close relative of the bottle tree, the ‘elephant’s trunk’ or ‘halfmens’ (Pachypodium namaquanum), occurs in isolated areas on the mountain slopes along the Orange River. The white flowered Pachypodium seen in many gardens and public places in Windhoek originates from Madagascar.

Bottle tree seedlings are available from the nursery of the National Botanical Research Institute in Windhoek – contact Number 061 202 2014. Their intriguing succulent stems and beautiful flowers make them spectacular accent plants in any rocky, frost-free, sunny and very well-drained position.

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