The blue -bark commiphora of the deciduous trees common in Zimbabwe which mostly shade during the winter and sprout new beautiful leaves in spring towards the approaching summer where beautful green vegetation beautify the woodlands when the grass is dry and when there is no other green found dry hot areas.
Botanical name:Commiphora caerulea
English name:Blue-bark commiphora
Chishona name:Mufunu
Name derivation:The tree peel its bark producing fine soft papery like skin which the local people identify as "Kufunuka"which means peeling of skin.
National tree number :409
Desccription:A deciduous tree up to 13 metres in height , which commonly found in thickest ravines and on rocky hill slopes.milky blue with with a translucent ,yellowish ,papery peel ,with neat roundish branchlets are not spine-tipped.
Leaves are 3-foliolate or with 2 pairs of leaflets plus the terminal leaflet ,both types os leaves occuring on the same tree.Leaflets elliptic upto 8x4,5 cm.The leaf texture is thin with grey short grey ,soft hairs on the under surface and few sparse hairs on the upper surface apex tapering base rounded asymmetric margin scalloped to toothed.
Flowers are small greenish-yellow which produced with the very young leaves in clusters or as single on the tips of dwarfed lateral twigs ,the calyces and flower stalks are covered with dense grey hairs.
Fruit is almost spherical about 1,5cm in diameter with a thin layer of aromatic pulp,pseudaril covers about ¾ of the stone.
Diagnostic characters:The continuous peeling tree with foliolate leaves.Bark is smooth ,succulent looking ,conspicuosly milky blue and translucent.Flowering period is between Novermber to December every year and fruits appear around february onwards.
Distribution:The blue -bark commiphora species are found more sparsely around almost places around Zimbabwe.The thich densely forests are to the far north of Zimbabwe along the Zambezi valley from the north-east mukumbura along through mana pools stretching westwards to Victoria falls.
Habitat:Rocky hill slopes in open woodlands in the semi-arid lowveld.
Economic uses:The tree is good and much prefered by artists who make three diamentional products such as wood curvings.The wood is very light and easy to work on whilst producing very good furniture and wood sculptures.
Other uses:Although many traditional herbalists claim that the species are important in treating diseases ,but no official document prove this as a medicine.The wood is not used as firewood because of it being papery and burns very fast left only ashes.
Propagation:The species reproduced itself in it habitat and it is difficult to be established by man.This is one of endangered species because of its valuable artistic values.
SOURCE OF INFORMATION
Palgrave K.C. and Drummond R.B(1993)Trees of Southern Africa ,The Struik Group p/l ,Cape Town