Trees in Serengeti
The Serengeti National Park is the perfect place to see all the amazing wildlife that Tanzania has to offer. If you’re a traveller from all over the world, this is definitely the best thing about the safari! As well as the huge grasslands, there are lots of trees that make the landscape feel very African. Today, we’re going to introduce you to six of the most common trees in the Serengeti.
The Serengeti is home to the world’s largest animal migration, where tons of animals make their annual pilgrimage. Every year, millions of wildebeest and hundreds of thousands of other hoofed animals set off on a 1,000-kilometre-long migration across the border between Kenya and Tanzania. But apart from that, there are loads of vegetarian four-legged friends and carnivorous predators. It’s no wonder it’s one of the most popular safari tours around.
But when you think of the Serengeti, you often notice the trees. One of the main reasons is that they’re home to lions, leopards and some really interesting birds of prey. But for many travellers, they’re the “African landscape” itself. But what kind of trees can you find in Tanzania? So, let us introduce you to the six most common trees in the Serengeti.
Umbrella thorn (Acacia tortilis)
The umbrella thorn is the tree that represents Africa like no other. They stand like mighty umbrellas in the savannah, providing shade. If there’s a lion having a nap underneath or a giraffe munching on an acacia, it’s the perfect image of Africa.
Acacia tortilis is one of the different types of umbrella acacia, and it’s really common in the Serengeti. Like other acacias, they provide food for lots of animals, even if they don’t want it. Giraffes are a bit of a nuisance, so they’ve developed tannins. They make the soup more interesting for the disrespectful grazers and poison their leaves. It won’t kill the giraffes, but it’ll make their stomachs ache. The acacias have figured out that if they team up in the Serengeti, they’re more likely to survive. So, they send out chemical signals (ethylene) to let other acacias in the area know what’s going on. This means they can prepare an overdose of tannins before anyone even attacks their leaves.
Have you ever seen a giraffe smile while feeding? They’re probably just having a laugh at the acacias’ antics. When they’re looking for food, they go against the wind instead of downwind.
Traditional medical uses: the bark, seeds, and stems are most commonly used, with the powdered bark serving as a disinfectat for wounds and an anthelmintic. The seeds are used to treat diarrhea, and the stems can be used to treat asthma. Infusions of the bark are used to treat stomach aches and diarrhea.
Wild Date Palm (Phoenix reclinata)
The Wild Date palm has feather-shaped leaves. This evergreen palm does not grow much more than 6m in height and often occurs in dense stands, with one or more curving stems rising above the rest. The bark of the Wild Date Palm is dark brown to dark grey and the leaves are roughly scarred. Leaves are 3-4m long. Feather-like with up to 50 leaflets a side. Basal leaflets are spiny and the others are dark green, smooth and glossy.
Flowers are inflorescence borne in axils of young leaves near the apex of the stem. Male and female are on separate plants. Male florets are caduceus and pale dirty-yellow. Female florets are small, globose and yellow-green. The fruits are small and borne in large, pendant clusters. Fruit pulp is fairly fleshy, yellow when young and brown at maturity with one seed inside.
Wild Date Palm trees thrive only where a permanent high water-table exists as is the case in the swamp, which accounts for its absence in the dry land areas. The Wild Date Palm, being water-dependant, is often an indication of an earlier permanent water flow in a particular area, even if there is no water visible at the time.
The fruits of the Wild Date Palm are sought after by mammals, birds and humans alike and the heart of the tree is used as a vegetable. In South Africa and Botswana the plants are tapped for sap which is used to make palm wine. This is done prior to flowering of the plant.
Traditional medical uses: People use juice from the date palm for coughs and breathing problems. The pollen from date palm is used for swelling (inflammation) and sores inside the mouth and for conditions in a man that prevent him from getting a woman pregnant within a year of trying to conceive (male infertility).
Yellow fever tree (Acacia xanthophloea)
This tree is linked to disease. But not in the way you might think. Firstly, the ‘xanthophloea’ bit of the tree’s scientific name comes from the Greek for
‘yellow bark’, which makes the tree really stand out.
The name ‘fever tree’ comes from two things: first, that it grows in swampy areas, floodplain forests, lake shores or areas of high groundwater. Take the Serengeti, for instance. The black cotton soil along the rivers there is especially wet. But settlers noticed that the tree was especially common in areas where malaria was a problem. They figured out that the “fever trees” were behind the malaria. But now we know otherwise: Malaria is spread by mosquitoes that like to hang out in the swampy areas where these trees grow.
Traditional medical use: Bark used for bringing down fever and treating eye infections
Sausage tree (Kigelia africana)
To be fair, this big tree isn’t exactly common in the Serengeti. That makes it all the more impressive when you see it. The name says it all. We call it the “Sausage Tree”. It really does look like oversized sausages growing on long stalks hanging from this tree. These fruits can grow to around 60 cm and bigger. Just a heads-up, though: they’re poisonous. At least to us humans.
Big animals like elephants love these fruits, but even baboons can get at the hard ‘berries’. Eventually, the fruit falls off the tree and rots if it isn’t eaten first. Either way, they release seeds – either straight away, or after a long, exciting journey through the digestive tract.
Any Serengeti guide will tell you that the worst place to camp in the Serengeti is under a sausage tree: If you don’t get squashed by the 5-10kg fruit, the elephant will do it when it comes to collecting the fruit.
As it happens, there’s a pretty common local belief that the fruit of the sausage tree can stop a cyclone from hitting if you hang it in your hut.
Traditional medical uses: extracts from its fruit, bark, and leaves have been used to treat a wide range of ailments, including skin conditions, wounds, and digestive issues. Modern research has also explored its potential for treating conditions like cancer and as a cosmetic ingredient.
Strangler Fig (Ficus thonningii)
The name sounds a bit ominous: strangler fig. Sounds like something you shouldn’t get too close to. Picture this: you’re standing somewhere outside, basking in the sun, when all of a sudden, a little plant starts climbing up you. You’ve got no chance of getting away. And as this parasite uses your body to get closer to the sun, it branches out and gets thicker without mercy. You’ll slowly but surely get lost in the plant’s ever-thickening web. While you’re almost invisible from the outside, the rotting process is already beginning inside. All that’s left is a shell of a plant that can survive without you.
Yeah, nature can be brutal sometimes. This attack doesn’t actually target people, but trees, but the result is the same. But the tree produces lots of really nutritious leaves, twigs and bark all year round, which makes life easier for wild animals.
The strangler fig is seen as a sacred tree in the area. Among the tribes it is said to bring rain when an elder makes an offering to their god Ngai by fanning the smoke of a roasted, fattened lamb up the tree.
Traditional medical uses: Fig fruit is used as a laxative to relieve constipation. Fig leaf is used for diabetes, high cholesterol, and skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, and vitiligo.
Candelabra Euphorbia (Euphorbia candelabrum)
The first thing you notice when you see the Candelabra Tree is that it looks just like a giant chandelier with loads of candleholders. We don’t think this is the sort of thing you’d want on your table for a romantic dinner. But maybe at a bush dinner?
We wouldn’t recommend burning down a candelabra tree. It’s a bit of a sprig. The plant’s white latex sap is poisonous. It’s usually best not to inhale smoke. But it would be even worse with a surge in smoke. Just touching the thick, milky sap can cause skin irritation and blindness if it gets in your eye.
The tree, which is mostly found in the western and northern parts of the Serengeti, has another special feature: it looks like a plant hermaphrodite. It looks like a cactus on top and a normal tree at the bottom of the trunk.
Traditional medical uses: treating skin diseases, joint pain, veneral diseases, infertility, gonttrhea, and conditions like coughs and tuberculosis. The latex is used for wounds, sores, and warts. Some studies suggest its potential for treating malaria, while other uses include promoting childbirth and managing postpartum care.
Tanzania is full of highlights. The Serengeti is one of the most popular safari destinations. If you’ve got any questions, or need a hand planning your trip to Tanzania, just give us a shout! Here on site, we’ve always got the latest info on what’s going on. So get in touch!