COMBRETACEAE

Combretum apiculatum subsp. apiculatum

Red Bushwillow

Trees & Shrubs

Local Context

Most common tree on the estate and a dominant tree across the undulating hills of the Lowveld. It occurs all the way north to Kenya. Some of the free standing specimens near houses are much taller than the regular small trees of the Kruger National Park.

Identification

Growth: Small semi-deciduous tree (usually 4–10 m tall), rarely a shrub, with an open, flattened to rounded crown; the bark is greyish-black to dark grey and can be deeply fissured, scaly, or smooth, with bark on young branches often peeling in untidy fibrous strips.
Flowers: Yellow, cream, or greenish-yellow, and often heavily or sweetly scented; they are arranged in slender spikes (3–7 cm long) growing from the leaf axils.
Leaves: Opposite, variable in shape from broadly egg-shaped to narrowly oval or almost round (3–14 cm long); they are fresh to dark green, very shiny (glossy), and characteristically end in a distinctive twisted, sharply pointed tip (apiculate).
Texture: Young leaves and fruits are typically sticky (glutinous); mature leaves are largely hairless but covered in tiny, sometimes inconspicuous scales; the branches are also scaly.
Fruit: Four-winged fruit (2–3 cm long) that is nearly round to oval-shaped; it is sticky when young but becomes shiny and smooth when mature, varying in color from yellowish-green with a red tinge to golden or dark rusty brown.

Did You Know?

The Red Bushwillow produces wood so dense it sinks in water and naturally repels termites. It is easily identified by its apiculate leaf tips, which twist at a right angle. Even if snapped or uprooted by elephants, the tree survives by sprouting new stems from its fallen trunk. While its seeds are toxic to most, they are a primary food source for the Brown-headed Parrot.

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