The National Museum celebrated Arbor Week with a week-long virtual exhibition focusing on five indigenous trees that should be in every garden; trees that are beautiful in their peace and wise in their silence! Arbor Week is celebrated annually by South Africans in the first week of September. This year’s campaign theme was: “Forests and Sustainable Cities”.
1. Olienhout, Wild olive or Motlhware, the National tree of the Free State. Olea europaea subspecies cuspidosa (Olienfamilie)
The fruits are edible and attracts animals and especially birds. Leaves are mainly used in traditional medicine but also the wood, bark and flowers for numerous uses. The leaves are traditionally used to lower blood pressure. The hard wood is durable and sought after for ornaments and furniture and makes good fencing posts. Although slow growing it is a very popular garden tree as it is drought-resistant and frost-tolerant.
Tydens hierdie jaar se boomplant-week wil ek jou voorstel aan vyf bome wat inheems aan die Vrystaat is en in elke tuin tuis sal wees, bome wat rustigheid uitstraal in hul skoonheid en wysheid in hul stilte. Die ryp pers vrugte is baie gewild onder ‘n groot verskeidenheid voëls en die blare veral onder soogdiere. Alhoewel die boom se hout, bas en blomme algemeen gebruik word vir medisinale doeleindes word die blare tradisioneel merendeels gebruik om hoë bloeddruk te behandel. Die hout is baie duursaam en word oa vir heiningpale gebruik. Die olien groei stadig maar is ‘n uitstekende en geharde tuinplant wat maklik droogtes en ryp oorleef.
2. Soetdoring, Sweet thorn or mooka / mookane Acacia karroo (Fabaceae, ertjie/pea familie)
Sweet thorn is an important source of firewood. It is important in the production of honey as the flowers produce lots of nectar and pollen for bee-farming and the honey has a pleasant flavour. The bark has been used in tanning, giving a red colour to the leather and the inner bark makes a strong rope. The golden or red gum (known as Cape Gum) which is exuded from wounds in the bark is edible and was used in confectionary and as an adhesive. The seeds are roasted and used as coffee substitute. The tree is integrally part of our country’s history having been used for everything from raft making to sewing needles and fencing for the houses of the royal Zulu women. The thorns were even used by early naturalists to pin the insects they collected!
Tydens hierdie jaar se boomplantweek wil ons jou voorstel aan vyf bome wat inheems aan die Vrystaat is en in elke tuin tuis sal wees, bome wat rustigheid uitstraal in hul skoonheid en wysheid in hul stilte.
Die Soetdoring is ‘n baie belangrike bron van brandhout en die massas goudgeel blomme is ‘n belangrike nektar- en stuifmeelbron vir heuningbye. Soetdoringheuning het ‘n baie kenmerkende aangename geur en smaak. Die bas kan gebruik word om leer mee te looi en die binneste veselagtige bas word soms gebruik om toue mee te vleg. Die oudkleurige gom wat by wonde uitgeskei word, word as lekkerny geëet en ook gebruik om mee te plak. Die sade word gerooster en as plaasvervanger vir koffie gebruik. In die verlede is die boom vir ‘n groot verskeidenheid goed gebruik oa die bas om vlotte mee te maak, die dorings as naalde en die takke om heinings mee te maak rondom die hutte van die koninklike Zulu vrouens. As gevolg van ‘n gebrek aan naalde het pionier entomoloë die dorings gebruik om insekte mee op te speld.
3. Karee, Karree, Mosilabele / mosabêlê / moshabele Searsia lancea (Rhus lancea) (Anacardiaceae, Rosyntjie/Wild currant family)
Karree wood is hard and durable and used as fencing posts and implement handles and makes good firewood. Bark was used for tanning leather and it gives a brown dye. Branchlets/stems were once used to make hunting bows. The edible fruits are soaked in milk before eating or mixed with sour milk. Fruit can be brewed into a tasty beer. Tea is made from the dried fruits. Flowers attracts bees and insects. Widely sought after as a garden tree as it grows relatively fast, is an excellent shade tree, has a non-aggressive root system and is drought and frost resistant.
Tydens hierdie jaar se boomplantweek wil ons jou voorstel aan vyf bome wat inheems aan die Vrystaat is en in elke tuin tuis sal wees, bome wat rustigheid uitstraal in hul skoonheid en wysheid in hul stilte. Die harde en duursame hout van die karee maak dit die ideale keuse om te gebruik vir heiningpale, vuurmaakhout en handvatsels vir implimente soos bv pikke. Die bas kleur leer bruin wanneer daarmee gelooi word. Die dunner takke is in die verlede gebruik om boë mee te maak. Die vrugte word in melk geweek voor dit geëet word en ook met suurmelk gemeng.
Bier word ook gebrou van die vrugte en die vrugte kan ook as tee gebruik word. Die blomme lok ‘n groot verskeidenheid insekte gedurende die wintermaande. Die karee het ‘n nie- aggressiewe wortelstelsel en is baie geskik vir die tuin omdat dit vinnig groei, goeie skaduwee verskaf, en droogte- en rypbestand is.
4. Blinkblaar-wag-‘n-bietjie, Buffalo thorn, Mokgalo Ziziphus mucronata subsp. mucronata (Rhamnaceae, Wag-‘n-bietjie / Buffalo thorn family)
Leaves and fruit are used by a large variety of animals. The berries are edible, dried and grounded and are used for porridge. During the Anglo Boer war the seeds were roasted, grounded and used as coffee. Wood hard, heavy, tough, elastic and used for bows, whip stocks and household utensils, for spoons, tool handles and general purpose timber. A well-known medicinal plant where the roots, bark and leaves, separately or in combination are used for various ailments as medicine. Widely used for magical purposes. This reasonably fast growing adaptable tree is highly recommended as a garden tree as it attracts birds, insects and butterflies, is drought tolerant and intense heat and cold resistant/hardy. It tolerates all soil types and its roots system is not aggressive.
Tydens hierdie jaar se boomplantweek wil ons jou voorstel aan vyf bome wat inheems aan die Vrystaat is en in elke tuin tuis sal wees, bome wat rustigheid uitstraal in hul skoonheid en wysheid in hul stilte.
Blare en vrugte van die boom word deur baie diere gebruik. Die vrugte word gedroog, fyn gemaal en geëet. Gedurende die Anglo-Boere oorlog is die sade gerooster en as plaasvervanger vir koffie gebruik. Die hout is baie hard en elasties en vir ‘n groot verskeidenheid instrumente gebruik soos bv boë, sweepstokke en om lepels mee te maak. Die wortels, bas en blare word medisinaal gebruik vir ‘n wye verskeidenheid siektetoestande. Dele van die boom word ook vir magiese rituele gebruik. Die boom groei redelik vinnig en lok uitsonderlik baie soorte skoenlappers, ander insekte en voëls. Dit is ‘n uitstekende boom om in die tuin aan te plant aangesien dit droogte- en kouebestand is, in amper enige grondsoort groei en nie ‘n agressiewe wortelstelsel het nie.
5. Hoëveldse kiepersol, Highveld cabbage tree, motshetshe Cussonia paniculata (Araliaceae, Kiepersol / Cabbage familie)
The thick, soft roots are sometimes eaten. The leaves are utilised by a variety of browsers. Traditionally the leaves are added to mixtures that are used to treat early mental illness. The wood is very soft and of not much use. During the era of ox wagons the wood was often used as brake-blocks for the wagons. This is an exceptionally attractive and frost hardy tree for a small garden.
Tydens hierdie jaar se boomplantweek wil ons jou voorstel aan vyf bome wat inheems aan die Vrystaat is en in elke tuin tuis sal wees, bome wat rustigheid uitstraal in hul skoonheid en wysheid in hul stilte.
Die boom se dik sagte wortels kan geëet word. Die blare word deur alle blaarvreters benut. Tradisioneel word die blare by ‘n mengsel van ‘n verskeidenheid bestanddele gevoeg wat dan aangewend word om vroeë tekens van geestesongesteldheid te genees. Tydens die era van ossewaens, is die sagte hout gebruik as remskoene vir die waens. Die droogte- en rypbestande kiepersol is ‘n uitstekende boom vir ‘n klein erfie.
Text: Dr Ziets Zietsman and Ancilia van Staden
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