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Quiver tree scientific name9/2/2023 Many insects, animals and birds are drawn by the copious nectar of the flowers. Ecological ValueĪpart from their use by humans for arrow-quivers, these trees are important components of their local ecology. In this landscape it is usually one of the most conspicuous tree species, having made an impression on visitors as far back as Governor Simon van der Stel in 1685, and even today it is still a favourite with tourists. It is missing from the extremely dry coastal regions of the Namib Desert, as well as the sandy inland Kalahari Desert, preferring uneven, stony country. In Namibia, this species occurs in a wide swath from the Orange River northward to about the Etosha Pan. In the western part of the Northern Cape Province, it spreads a bit southward from the river into the region known as Namaqualand, of which many people consider it to be characteristic. In South Africa, its distribution is centred on the lower reaches of the Orange River, from the region of Kuruman till where the river discharges into the Atlantic Ocean. This is essentially a desert and semi-desert species. ![]() The flowers are rather short and rounded in shape, compared to other aloe flowers. They branch into three to five racemes, bearing the yellow flowers. The inflorescences arise from amidst the rosettes at the tips of the branches, and are fairly short and carried erect. The flowers appear from June to August – this is wintertime in the Southern Hemisphere. Typically, the trunk tapers from a thick base towards the top, with the first branches appearing about halfway up. It is covered with thick, corky, yellowish bark that flakes into sharp-edged sections on the main trunk, but remains smooth and whitish on the branches. ![]() ![]() The stem can get quite stout – more than a metre in diameter at the base. Unlike in the single-stemmed tree-like aloes, in this species the old dry leaves drop off so that the leafy rosettes only remain at the tips of the branches, leaving the rest of their length clean. The leaves are about 30cm long and 5cm wide, somewhat bluish- green in colour, and arranged in a spiralled rosette in old plants, but in young plants, neatly arrayed in four vertical rows. These rosettes at the tips of the forked branches usually form a dense, rounded crown. Yet at close inspection it is still clearly an aloe, with a rosette of pointed, thickly-succulent leaves, bearing a margin of thorns, at the tip of each branch. This species is one of only a few species of aloe that reaches tree proportions: it can grow to 7m in height. A hollowed-out section is then closed off at one end with a piece of leather leather straps are fitted to it so it can be slung over the shoulders, and voilà – a quiver! Appearance Consequently, branches can easily be hollowed out. This tree doesn't have real 'wood' but a much softer pulpy, fibrous tissue in the trunk and branches. The name 'quiver tree' comes from the habit of the San People, or Bushmen, of using the branches of this aloe for making quivers to contain their poison arrows. This is one of the most branched and tree-like species of aloe. The species name, dichotoma, means 'divided in two' and refers to the way the branches divide, repeatedly forking in two. Scientific NameĪloe is the genus name for all the species of aloe. ![]() It is indeed one of the biggest members of the genus Aloe and is well known to succulent enthusiasts. The quiver tree is a remarkable large, tree-like species of succulent plant that occurs in the dry desert and semi-desert regions of South Africa and Namibia.
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