Kalahari desert :: Plants of the Kalahari desert. Plants in the Kalahari desert

Plants in the Kalahari desert

The important plants in the Kalahari Desert fit roughly into one of two groups:

Plants in the Kalahari desert that are important because they occur mainly in the Kalahari desert or in Kalahari desert sand, such as the Camel thorn.

Plants in the Kalahari desert that occur elsewhere as well, but which are so abundant or typical in the Kalahari that you cannot ignore them, such as the Shepherd tree.

Compared to the incredible wealth of species of the Cape Macchia or "fynbos", or even the Karroo with its succulents, the plants in the Kalahari are surprisingly "species poor". No members of the Aloe family, so ubiquituous elsewhere in South Africa, occurs in the Kalahari, and very few above ground succulents. The bushmen candle Psilocaulon spp. and the "Ghaap" Hoodia spp. are the rare exceptions to this rule of thumb. (Yes, it is the "Hoodia" of recent pharmaceutical fame, the "Bushmen wonder plant, used as a diet aid!).

Shifting sand seems to be a major barrier to many species. Plants in the Kalahari tend to have extremely deep roots (up to 40 m deep for the Camel thorn) and a single species seems to have various growth forms that can exploit water at a specific depth. Many plants in the Kalahari, for instance, occur as both a large tree and as a shrub. In most cases this is controlled by shifting sand and by animal and other damage, and not by age.

An alternative to "deep and hidden" survival strategy, is followed by plants such as the "devil thorn" Tribulus spp. that develop extremely rapidly and completes its whole life cycle from germination, to flowering to seed-formation, within as short a period as two weeks.

Trees

Camel Thorn tree Acacia erioloba

The Camel Thorn tree, or "Kameeldoringboom" in Afrikaans, is without question the best known of the trees or plants in the Kalahari desert. Depending on growth conditions the camel thorn tree can become an immense tree of up to 10 m high, or less commonly, a smaller, multistemmed shrub. Strange as it may seem, the "Camel" that the name suggests, is not the Dromedary camel, which do occur in the Kalahari but which is an imported animal, and bred in captivity. The name "Camel thorn" actually refers to the love of Giraffe's latin name Camelopardus or Afrikaans "Kameelperd" meaning "Camel-horse", as can be seen from the old botanical name of the tree, Acacia giraffae.


Camel thorn tree	Camel thorn tree, detail pods

The Camel Thorn tree has a very hard and dense wood, but not so hard or so dense as leadwood or Lignum vitae. It is used for many purposes, and is the preferred fire wood for a "braai" or "braaivleis", which is the Afrikaans word for a Barbeque (BBQ). In the Kalahari, at least in South Africa, these plants in the Kalahari desert has been a protected species under the Forestry act, for the past two years, so please do not braek of branches or twigs, or even, like in the old days, pull over a large half-dead tree. It is only sale of the wood that is forbidden unless you have a permit, not posession.

Although this may serve the purpose of protecting the Camel Thorn tree amongst the plants in the Kalahari desert, this has displaced the burden of supplying fire-wood, to other trees and or and plants in the Kalahari desert. At best, invader species like the Rhigosum or the Alien Prosopis or "Mesquite" from the Cowboy books, is used as an alternative firewood, but where these invaders have been eradicated, other local species of plants in the Kalahari desert, such as the Shepherd Tree now carries the brunt. This has happened recently around Askham, where Prosopis trees was eradicated by Working for Water, an initiative of the Department of Water Affairs to eradicate water-greedy exotics plants in the Kalahari desert, from water courses.

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the Camel Thorn tree, is its seeds which forms a large crescent (or "half-moon"), up to 4 or 5 inches from end to end, and covered by a fine grey down, almost like that of a camel. These pods, of which a mature tree (80 years plus) can produce 500 kg in a season, contians a fine nutritious powdery inside, that surrounds a number of hard and shiny seeds. In severe drought periods, these seeds makes up a major part of the survival rations of most Kalahari animals and are a very important survival food amongst the plants of the Kalahari.

Shepard tree Boscia albitrunca

The Shepard tree occurrs much wider in South Africa and Africa than just the Kalahari, but this tree with its white bark and small dark-green leaves, comes to its right especially in the Kalahari, amongst the plants in the Kalahari desert. It is one of the few trees that will actually grow on the slopes of a dune, and in the Kalahari, where existence is a strugle and shifting sands constantly exposes roots, while heavy grazing distorts the tree, the Shepperds Tree seem to have a special beauty of its own. Of all the Kalahari trees, this is my personal favorite.

kalahari - Sheperd tree - Boscia albitrunca

Besides its beauty and the luxury of its shade, the shepherd tree is used by man and beast in a variety of ways of which I mention only a few:

The fruit or berries are delicious and can be eaten raw or as a jam or in yoghurt
The roots are used to prepare a coffee substitute
Roots are boiled to produce a sweet syrup
All parts of the plant have medicinal, flavour or food uses
The roots are ground and used as a flour or porridge
The roots are used to preserve butter and milk

Grey Camelthorn (Acacia heamatoxylon)

In the Southern parts of the Kalahari, this tree normally occurs as a multi-stemmed shrub although the odd large tree can be found in the dry river beds. In the Kalahari desert Savannah or "sand flats" of the North and East, the grey camel thorn more commonly occurs as a tree of up to 8 m high. As its name suggests, its foliage has a grey tinge. The seedpods of this tree tend to be thinner and rounder in shape than the crescent shape of the true camelthorn, with a distinct constriction between the seed-pods, to give a string of beads effect. The tree form, but not the shrub form, forms hybrids with the true camel thorn, of which I don't yet have details.


Grey Camel thorn tree	Grey Camel thorn tree, detail pods	Grey Camel thorn tree, detail leaves and flowers

Black thorn Acacia mellifera subspecies detinens

This is perhaps the most conspicuous shrub in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and elsewhere in the Kalahari desert. It forms thick clusters. This seems to be a natural occurence, and not necessarily due to over-grazing.

Driedoring ="Three-thorn" Rhigozum trichotomum

This small shrub is typically found on an calcareous substratum. It is also found along rivers, pans and other area where brackish water forms pools. It is characteristically found on the fringes of the vegetation around pans

Shrubs

Brosdoring Lycium hirsutum

Black thorn Acacia mellifera subspecies detinens

Driedoring ="Three-thorn" Rhigozum trichotomum

Shrubs and smaller kalahari plants

Brosdoring Lycium hirsutum

This is a perennial evergreen shub, commonly used as grazing

Tsamma or Kalahari desert Melon Citrulus lanatus

This relative or even perhaps progenitor of the cultivated Water-melon, is responsible for maintaining life in the desert, for both man and animals, during the long drought years. Especially in the era before bore-holes had been drilled to access ground water, the tsamma, that can remain fresh and firm for more than two years, maintained animals and made travel in the inhospitable Kalahari desert possible. Animals eat it raw, and to use it a s a source of water, one can either use it raw or coocked, which improves the taste of thee resultant water. However, the water obtained from an cooked Tsamma frements within a day and have to be replaced. The seeds of the Tsamma produces kalahari melon seed-oil, which is a sough after commodity.


Kalahari Tsamma melon	Gemsbok and small Wild cucumber	Small Wild cucumber

Yellow devils thorn Tribulus terestris and T. zeyheri

The "Duwweltjie" or devil's thorn, with its yellow flowers that blooms and produces seed within two weeks after rain, is lovely to look at, and its yellow flowers forms a spectacular contrast with the sand of the Kalahari, but the seeds or "thorns" of this Kalahari plant hurt one's feet. The genus "Tribulus" is a "caltrap" in latin, a spiked tool of war that was scattered before an advancing enemy, which always falls so that it has a spike sticking up, and that punctures the feet of soldiers and horses alike. The flowers and leaves are a beloved food-source of Sporingbok and a horde of insects.

Duwweltjie" or Devil thorn

Edible "Ghaap" and "Wild Ghaap" Hoodia gordonii

Lets put a few things straight about Hoodia, which has now become buzz-word because it is used in a apetite suppressant and diet-aid. Because Hoodia and its properties was discovered by the San Bushman, and because the Bushman now live in the Kalahari, people just assume that it occurrs in the Kalahari. Although Hoodia Gordonii and the other Hoodia, the "Bitter Ghaap" does occasionally occurr in the Kalahari, it is extremely scarce and not really considered a plant of the Kalahari desert. Hoodia is a plant that occurs more frequently in the Bushmanland and Namaqualand, and it primarily occurrs in the so-called "Ghaap-plateau" and "Ghaapse-berg" (=Ghaap mountain) where almost pure stands of Hoodia occurs. Although Hoodia Gordonii is most well known, the name "Ghaap" (pronounced Garp" refers to a variety of veld-kos, amongst which is the Hoodia gordonii or Bitter Ghaap and Hoodia the Sweet or edible Ghaap. Both contains the active ingredient, P75, that is useful for apetite suppression. And please, the hoodia is member of the family Asclepidacea and is not a cactus at all! There are no indigenous cacti in South Africa. The only cactus plants that occurr in the Kalahari and elsewhere in Africa, are imports and a number of them are serious introduced pests, mostly prickly pear varieties, genus Oppuntia.

"Bitter Ghaap" Hoodia gordonii

More information
| HOME | Map of Kalahari desert | Animals in the Kalahari desert | Roar of the Kalahari movie |
| Plants in the Kalahari desert | Tribes in the Kalahari desert | Sands of the Kalahari movie DVD |
| Life of the Kalahari Bushmen | Kalahari desert climate | Kalahari desert pictures | Kalahari pans |
| Kalahari desert paintings | Kalahari dunes | Namib and Kalahari desert | Lost city of the Kalahari |
| From Gondwanaland to Kalahari | Witdraai - Camel Breeding | Kalahari Camels | Scotty Smith |
| Kalahari personalities | Some Kalahari policemen | Lost city of the Kalahari | Sights on your way |
| Kalahari Bushmen (Komani San, Saasi) | E-mail Site Owner at info@abbott-infotech.co.za |
| Tour South Africa.com |