Botanical name:copaifera mopane
English name:Mopane
Chishona name:Mupani,musharu
Name derivation:Musharu the hard and not break easily ,good at burning as fuelwood and good poles than other trees where this trees are common.
National tree number:246
Description:Mopane is a medium to large tree of 4 to 18 metres .The average height is 10 metres.In Zimbabwe the tree found in low lying areas such as lowvelds in gonarezhou,Hwange, Gokwe and many places around the country.In most places where the mopane woodlands are scattered there found coal deposits which led many people to believe that coal and gas originate from this natural plantations.The tree grow favourably in alluvial soils and can easily tolerates alkaline and poorly drained soils.
Bark on the young branches smooth and faintly ridged but brownish-grey which can bent easily but difficulty to crack and remove with hands and rough on older dark-grey to blackish branches and stems,which are deeply ,vertically fissured and flacking in narrow strips.
Leaves drooping and evenly compound ,alternate with 2 leaflets arising close together and look like a butterfry wings.,the vestigial remains of third ,lobed on 1 side ,margin entire ;petiole 2 to 4 cm long.Thinly textured dull green leaflets ovate 4,5 to 10x1,5 to 5cm ,dotted with translucent glands ;apex tapering,base markedly asymmetric.
Flowers greenish ,small inconspicuous in short axillary racemes ,or sprays.Sepals 4,greenish ,petals absent ,stamens 20 to 25 ,hanging out of the flowers .
Diagnostic characters:The flowering season October to March and flowering is rare as the whole forest can have several years without flowers.
Fruits are flattened pod ,oval or leathery not woody ,indehiscent from march to June.The seeds are distinctive ,flat conspicuously convoluted ,sticky and copiously dotted with resin glands.
In autumn the mopane leaves turn yellow and then brown ,they are shed irregularly in the following months and by the end of winter most of the mopane trees are bare.
Propagation:The seeds are light such that they can be dispersed by wind or adhere to the hooves or feet of animal moving in the woodlands.Seeds germinate easily provided they are planted while in the pod.The seedlings are slow -growing and are susceptible to damping -off ,they can not with stand veld fires as a result the plants are difficult to be established by man .It is necessary to conserve this natural plantations through managing especially veld fires.
Distribution:The mopane is the principal tree of hot ,low -lying south tropical Africa which also found in countries like South Africa,Namibia,Botswana and Mozambique areas.
Habitat:Mopane is one of species which form a distinctive vegetation groups ,often forming pure stands. Which then have a distinctive name" Mopane woodlands" which has an entirely atmosphere of its own,in the arid lowvelds.The leaves hang down during the very hot temperatures the leaflets move close together thus casting little shade.During the perrenial drought or other conditions not conducive to plants ,this mopane species remain stunted ,forming mopane scrub.
Economic uses:The young branches and leaves are eaten by elephants,giraffe,kudu,cattle and other plain wild and domesticated animals. The dry pods is a good food for many game and domestic animals.This is one of the neatest indigenous trees in woodlands and provide good timber traditionally to Africans who used it as poles to make strong huts.The wood curvings which populary found its markets in sculpture made from this tree.
Mopane wood is dark reddish-brown to almost black in colour ,it is very durable ,hard and heavy to be used in very difficulty to work. But can produce very good pieces of furniture.It extensively used in mining,railway sleepers and the best fuelwood with sweet smell with an intense heat.
Other uses:Caterpillars of a large brownish -grey moth,Gonimbrasia balina which are known as mopane worms feed from mopane leaves.These worms are common in Zimbabwe produce markets and supermarkets.Most people enjoy this high protein worms which are harvested and dried before put on the markets.Most visitors who need to taste them can be arranged by most hotels and lodges around the country.
Further reading:
Coates Palgrave ,K (1992).Trees of Southern Africa.C. Struik Publishers,Cape Town.
De Winter ,B.et al. (1966)Sixty sixTransvaal Trees .Voortrekker Pers,Pretoria
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