Voted as one of Kruger Park’s best-loved trees in the Wild card blog survey last month, today’s featured species is Pod-mahogany, Afzelia quanzensis.
A striking, large tree with bare trunk and wide spreading canopy this species is found on rocky outcrops, at the base of rhyolite ridges and in deep sandy soils. From January to June the broad, woody pods remain on the tree before bursting open to reveal bright red and black seeds.
Leaves, bark and shoots are utilised by elephants and the dropped flowers eaten by antelope. The uses that humans have had for Pod-mahogany over thousands of years, and still do have now, are so numerous it is best to look up the collected notes we have under Uses in TheTreeApp SA.
