Afzelia quanzensis
Pod-mahogany, Chamfuti, Peulmahonie
What does it say to us?
The crown is large and spreading. The trunk is robust, and the tree is high-branching.
The bark is mottled, flaking in roundish scales.
The leaves are pinnately compound with fairly large leaflets, and no terminal leaflet.
The tree in the image above grows among weathered sandstone koppies at Shantangalani, north-east of Punda Maria. Sandy soils are favoured by Afzelia quanzensis.
This Afzelia quanzensis near the N'wambiya sandveld shows the typical high-branching, robust trunk and wide, spreading canopy. The growth form speaks of strength and gravitas. Trees in this species may grow to 20 metres in height.
Leaves are alternate and paripinnate.
Leaflets are large, bright green and widely-spaced, with undulate margins. The midrib and venation are prominent on both upper and lower surfaces.
Notice, too, a thin yellow razor line around the margin of each leaflet.
Young leaves are copper-coloured, turning green as they mature
A flower with only one petal?
The fragrant flowers of Afzelia quanzensis have only one visible petal. This petal is large, pinkish-red and upwardly turned as an advertising billboard to attract pollinators.
The petal is deeply bilobed, with short claws at the upper margins of each lobe, evident in the image above. These fold at the margins of the petal and provide structural strength to the petal.
Curiously, the bright red petal is green on the reverse side!
With one big banner petal, the plant need not allocate energy to growing other petals to attract pollinators. Other petals are present, but they are reduced to scales, and are out of immediate sight.
There are normally 7 fertile stamens on each flower, and one or two staminoids, or infertile stamens.
A work of art!
The fruit is a large woody, dehiscent pod, quite flat, and usually about 10 to 17 cm long. These pods give the tree its name; pod-mahogany.
The open pod has two rows of seeds embedded in a white pith. The seeds are black, and approximately 3 cm long and 1.5 cm wide.
The red to vermillion cup-shaped basal aril makes the seeds easy to identify. The aril covers the lower portion of the seed.
These attractive seeds are strung into necklaces or bangles.
Once the fruit matures and starts to split open, the seeds with their red arils become highly visible among the more muted colours of the bush.
The tree needs its seeds to be distributed, and the bright red aril is part of its advertising strategy, to call in birds and animals. Hornbills will skilfully detach the aril, and eat it. The discarded seed falls to the ground, where it may germinate.
Distribution of Afzelia quanzensis trees is widespread north of Shingwedzi. This is a deep-rooted tree with a strong preference for sandy or granite-derived soils. It may also be found growing in between large boulders, where it is protected from fire.
The species also occurs in the wider Olifants, Satara, Skukuza, Lower Sabie and Crocodile Bridge ecozones.
The wood is hard, reddish-brown and beautiful when polished. It is in demand for quality furniture and flooring blocks, but supply is limited and the price is high. The trade name for the timber is Chamfuti or Chanfuta.
In some regions of Africa, Pod-mahogany tree trunks are used to make dugout canoes that are strong and durable.
This pod-mahogany tree is one of a group standing in sandy soils, on a low hill north-east of Punda Maria.
Somewhere in its past this tree suffered damage, leaving it with a large dead limb, and one finger pointing poignantly to the sky. Nevertheless, the tree thrives!