Trees of the year for 2024

 

Text Richard Boon Photographs Richard Boon or as credited

This year’s Trees of the Year are the White-pear (Apodytes dimidiata), Karee (Searsia lancea), Mountain Karee (S. leptodictya) and Sekhukhune Euphorbia (Euphorbia sekukuniensis). Only the White-pear is indigenous to KwaZulu-Natal so I will not cover the other two species in this article.

The White-pear’s Afrikaans name is witpeer and the Zulu name is umdakane. It was probably given its English and Afrikaans common names because the wood resembles that of a pear tree. Professor Adrian Koopman provided meanings for the Zulu verb daka and the noun umdaka, but links to the tree are unclear. Apodytes comes from the Greek to strip and refers to the tiny sepals (the normally green structures that protect the petals in bud), which do little to cover the petals. The species name dimidiata is from dimidiate, which means halved or divided into two equal parts. In biology it is applied when a structure seems to lack a half. Presumably, it refers to the incomplete appendage, which only covers part of the fruit.

The White-pear is an excellent evergreen tree that is suitable for most gardens. The roots are not invasive, it has a nice shape and it is quick-growing from seed, although germination may be slow. Trees growing in confined spaces, like where they compete with other plants, tend to have narrower crowns than those given space to spread.

They can be found in forest from the coast to the Berg foothills and occur naturally in the Krantzkloof Nature Reserve. White-pears can grow large in some forests, but local specimens are medium-sized. They also grow in mesic bushveld. The species will cope with most growing conditions in Durban.

Spreading tree growing in coastal bushveld at Ozabeni, south of Sodwana Bay.

White-pears can be difficult to identify when they are not flowering or fruiting as they seem to lack obvious identification features. The small- to medium-sized, mid to dark green, shiny leaves are alternately arranged on the branchlets. They are superficially similar to many other trees. A good diagnostic test is to pick a leaf, gently break it along the short axis and carefully and slowly separate the two parts. A very fine thread will be seen joining the broken ends of the midrib. Other helpful features are the leaf stalks, which are often pink-tinged, and trees growing near the coast are hairless. The tree’s smooth bark is a useful feature too. In coastal parts, especially in Maputaland, it can be pinkish orange and have very attractive patterns. These are formed by crustose lichens.

The fine, elastic thread seen between two halves of a carefully broken leaf is a good identification feature. This leaf comes from Apodytes abbottii or Pondo White-pear.

Smooth bark and lichen patterns from a tree growing at Mtunzini.

Abundant flowers are produced in summer and attract many bees in the very early morning.

The black part of the fruit contains the seed. The red part attracts birds.

The abundant small, white flowers are produced in terminal clusters mainly between January and March. Honeybees arrive before dawn and trees seem to hum in the twilight. The bees’ activity dislodges myriad tiny petals which carpet the floor like a light dusting of snow. The developing fruit is interesting. The actual fruit containing the seed is small and black. It is partially covered by a fleshy appendage, which is green at first and then ripens red and finally red-black from about April to July. The flowers are bisexual, which means all trees can produce fruit. While the fruit looks tasty, it is inedible to humans. Birds like them. I think of Red-capped Robin-chats as insectivorous birds, but in autumn and early winter they will feed in the canopy of White-pears alongside species that more commonly take fruit like Yellow-rumped Tinkerbirds, Black-bellied Starlings and Black-headed Orioles. Sometimes only the red appendages are removed and the black fruits are discarded.

White-pears are a good source of fruit for birds like this Cape White-eye when most other trees have finished producing.

Photo: Hugh Chittenden

Apodytes has traditionally been placed in the family Icacinaceae, but recent molecular work has shown that the family should be split and Apodytes belongs to family Metteniusiaceae. Apodytes itself has been challenging for taxonomists to sort out. Various experts have differed on how many species there are, some claiming as few as two, while others accepting as many as 17. Current consensus is there are about eight. All are Old World plants and the genus ranges from South Africa to northeastern Australia and New Caledonia. Apodytes species are also found in Madagascar.

There are three species in South Africa, two of which are endemic and were only formally named in 1994. Apodytes abbotti is a craggy species typical of sandstone rock outcrops in Pondoland and A. geldenhuysii is a rare shrub confined to mountainous areas of the South West Cape. On the other hand, Apodytes dimidiata is widespread from about Cape Town to Tropical Asia. As is often the case with widespread species, it has been given many scientific names across its range since it was first scientifically described in 1840. Nowadays, all the names are considered by some authorities to represent one entity and they are treated as synonyms of A. dimidiata. However, SANBI still recognises the two African subspecies A. dimidiata subsp. dimidiata, which is the local plant, and subsp. acutifolia, which is found from Malawi northwards. These subspecies are separated on the hairiness of their ovaries and fruit. Treating all the forms of Apodytes dimidiata as one diverse taxon seems unsatisfactory as the ‘species’ is very variable across its range. Images from South-East Asia posted on iNaturalist look quite different to South African plants, and in South Africa there appear to be three forms. Plants growing at higher elevations are hairy and the fruit appendages of plants growing in coastal parts of northern KwaZulu-Natal ripen directly from green to black. If you plan to grow a White-pear, I recommend getting your tree from a local source to ensure it is well-adapted to your growing conditions, and you won’t be guilty of contaminating the genes of local plants with foreign material.

White-pear wood is hard, heavy, fine-textured and the heartwood is yellowish to pinkish brown. It has been used for building wagons and fish kraals and is good for making a range of items like furniture, ornaments, implement handles, musical instruments and rifle butts.

The root bark has been used to treat internal parasites, leaf infusions are used to treat ear inflammation and leaves can be used to kill snails.

If you are looking for a medium-sized tree to plant, which is a little out of the ordinary, I highly recommend the White-pear.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Adrian Koopman for advice on the Zulu name, Geoff Nichols for comments about the fruit and Hugh Chittenden for permission to use his photograph of a Cape White-eye feeding on White-pear fruit.

References

“Dimidiate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dimidiate. Accessed 1 March 2024.

Glen, H. (2004) Sappi what’s in a name. The meanings of the botanical names of trees. Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd, Johannesburg, 80 pp.

Boon, R. [R.G.C.] (2010) Pooley’s trees of eastern South Africa. A complete guide. Flora and Fauna Publications Trust, Durban, 626 pp.

Van Wyk, A.E. & Potgieter, M.J. (1994) Two new species of Apodytes (Icacinaceae) from southern Africa. South African Journal of Botany 60(5) 231–239.

Van Wyk, B. & Van Wyk, P. (2013) Field guide to the trees of southern Africa, 2nd edn fully revised. Struik Nature, Cape Town, 732 pp.

Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Various articles accessed during February 2024.

Author photo: Pat McKrill

About the author

Richard Boon is well-known not only for his outstanding book Trees of Eastern South Africa – A Complete Guide but also for his environmental work at WESSA in the 90’s and later as part of the Environmental Planning and Climate Protection Department at eThekwini where he headed up the Biodiversity Planning Branch until end 2018. Richard is a practical botanist with over 25 years of field experience. He also enjoys photographing plants and other natural subjects. This article was written for The Leopard’s Echo from his new home in Melbourne, Australia. He currently works for the Victorian state government on native vegetation offset management. The role includes travelling statewide to visit new places and meet landowners. Work involves lots of learning and is much more field-based which has been a nice change. In his spare time, he learns the local ecology, flora and fauna.