Botswana’s National Plants

Botswana’s National Plants

Botswana’s national tree is the marula (morula) while her national flower is the devil’s claw (sengaparile).

National Tree: Marula [Morula]

Known as the Sclerocarya birrea in scientific circles, the marula tree gets its name directly from the Setswana “morula” (whose ‘o’ sound has proven very difficult to native English speakers, who tend to give it a more ‘a’ sounding pronunciation – like is the case with how Botswana sounds more like Batswana from an Angloglot’s tongue).

The tree is a majestic specimen of deciduous fruit-bearing tree, whose versatility benefits other flora, fauna, and even more importantly, humans in more ways than one can readily enunciate. Herbivores like elephants, giraffes, and a host of other smaller ones such as antelopes and other ungulates, enjoy the leaves, branches, and fruits of this tree. This in turn, makes the large trees a potentially lucrative hunting area for larger carnivores, who also benefit from the trees’ large and usually cool shades.

For the smaller life-forms, complete ecosystems can exist atop a single morula tree, with detritivorous insects being food sources for rodents, snakes, other insects and arachnids, and so on. These, in turn, becoming a food source for slightly larger predators who live on the trees, producing organic residues that sustain the smallest members of the ecosystem.

To humans, the marula tree offers a host of economic benefits – so much so that it has both been domesticated and deliberately grown in farms and homes, and has been listed as a protected species in some countries such as South Africa.

Leaves, roots, and bark are traditionally used for a wide range of medicinal purposes from alleviating heartburn to treating malaria. Its stem and branches produce dense and sturdy wood that is used for crafts, building and fencing, as well as as a reliable source of steadily-burning fuel.

The fruits, although very seasonal, can be eaten in their natural state, or processed to form foods and beverages such as jam, jellies, juices, and alcohol. In fact, what is arguably the most popular South African liqueur, Amarula Cream, is made from this product. The fruits are said to be very rich in Vitamin C, by the way.

Even the fruits’ endocarps (fruit-stones) do not escape commercial value to humans. Apart from the soft, tasty, and nutritious seeds enjoyed by both humans and animals alike, these also produce the much sought-after Marula oil, which can be used as both a skin-care product and in the food industry, as a cooking oil or as a meat preservative or even for treating leather.

And finally, for obvious reasons, it presents itself as a good hunting attraction or those seeking anything from large game to the small edible insects and caterpillars that reside in the marula ecosystem described above.

Beyond its everyday uses, the marula tree has also found its way into mystic lore. The large and provident tree is associated with royalty in many cultures, and indeed is usually the seat of many a kgotla among Batswana who have it growing in their vicinity. In fact, the marula tree pictured above is a national monument, as it was under this very tree that the first meeting of what would later become the ruling political party in Botswana (Botswana Democratic Party) was held, and is therefore considered to be the birth place of the party. The tree is on the edge of the Government Enclave in Gaborone – just next to the American Embassy.

The tree is very gender-specific, with male trees producing male gametes that fertilise female gametes produced in female trees. This dioecious nature of the morula tree gave rise to the practice of trying to determine an unborn child’s sex by drinking of the male tree if you wanted a boy, or a female tree if you wanted a girl.

Growing to over 15 metres in height, and outliving any animal with its centuries-old lifespan, the adult morula tree has a girth of 3.5 metres on its 4 metre tall trunk.

National Flower: Devil’s Claw [Sengaparile]

Known as the Harpagophytum procumbens in scientific circles, the devil’s claw (or grapple plant), gets its common English name from the sheer appearance of its hooked fruit, particularly when the fruit is dry. However, it grows a beautiful red, pink, and yellow flowers that appear annually during the rainy months of summer and disappears in late autumn.

Just like the marula tree, the grapple plant also has medicinal uses, and in its case, has found its way into mainstream manufacturing and exportation of its products. Some of the traditional applications include treatment of sores, intestinal disorders, kidney problems, gallstones, and diabetes. The Western world also uses its extracts for medicinal uses in the treatment of degenerative rheumatoid arthritis, tendonitis, kidney inflammation, and heart disease, among others.

Click these links to read more about national animals and national symbols.

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