General Info – summary

Unarmed deciduous Tree has high branches, a flattish crown & may reach 25m high.  Trunk is up to 1,2m wide.  Alternate imparipinnate Leaves have widely spaced leaflets.  Bisexual or male Flowers develop with new leaves in racemes.  They are irregular and lack petals.  The mass of golden stamens is distinctive.  A simple style and stigma are present with the stalked superior ovary.  Fruit is a pulpy drupe-like pod.

Description

Cordyla africana

SA Tree No. 216.

Common names: (Afr) Suikerbekkieboom, Wildemango, Wilde-mango.  (Eng) Sunbird Tree (attracts sunbirds to the flowers), Wild Mango.  (isiZulu) Igowane-elikhulu, Igowane-lehlati, Umbohone.  (siSwati) Umbubuli, Thunzikulu, Vovovo.  (Xitsonga) Xivuvule.

Family: Fabaceae or Leguminosae. (Pea, bean or legume family).  After the Orchidaceae and the Asteraceae, the Fabaceae is the third largest Angiosperm (flowering plants) family with 700+ genera and close to 20 000 species.  Local Tree genera on this website include Acacia (Vauchellia, Senegalia), Albizia, Bauhinia, Bolusanthus, Burkea, Calpurnia, Colophospermum, Cordyla, Cyclopia, Dichrostachys, Erythrina, Erythrophleum, Faidherbia, Indigofera, Mundulea, Peltophorum, Philenoptera, Piliostigma, Schotia and Xanthocercis.  The Fabaceae are recognisable by their fruit and by their pinnately compound Leaves.  Leaves may also be simple – even bilobed and usually have stipules – some of which may be spinescent.  Leaflets are usually entire.  Flowers are bisexual and bracteate.  Regular flowers usually have 4-5 sepals and the same number of petals.  Irregular flowers have 4-5 sepals and 5 or less petals.  Stamens have anthers that have 2 pollen sacs and there are usually at least twice the number of stamens as petals – often 10.  The superior Ovary has one locule that may contain 1 or more ovules.  The Stigma and Style are simple.  The single carpel develops into the Fruit, which is usually a pod.  This pod dehisces on both sides and may break into segments.  Seeds vary.

Name derivation:  Cordyla Greek: club-shaped or thickened towards the apex, referring to the shape of stalked fruit.  africana – from Africa.

Conservation: National Status: L. C. Least Concern.  Assessment 2004/11/29 (C.J. Geldenhuys and J.E. Victor).

Tree

This large, unarmed Tree (photo 92) with its spreading, flattish crown may reach 9 – 25m high.  The trunk up to 1,2m wide.  This plant may also be a shrub.  The grey-brown Stem (main axis of the plant, the leaf and flower bearing, as distinguished from the root-bearing axis) has many high up branches.  The low-down branches tend to fall.  The relatively straight branches occur relatively high up the stem.  Young Bark is green and mature bark is not deeply fissured and tends to peel off in thin longitudinal strips.  It becomes greyish-brown and rough with age peeling off in thin lengthwise strips (photo 89).

Leaves

This deciduous tree usually has imparipinnate leaves (pinnately compound leaves each ending in a single terminal leaflet).  These alternate Leaves are up to 32cm long and occur in an almost horizontal plane (photo 90).  The grooved upper surface of the Petiole (leaf stalk) is up to 2,5cm long.  The upper surface of the Rachis (main axis bearing leaflets in a compound leaf) is also grooved.  Stipules (basal appendage of the petiole) are caducous (an organ or part of which is easily detached and shed early).  Apart from the single terminal Leaflet, each leaf has 11-28 usually alternate (occasionally nearly opposite) pairs of leaflets. Each thin, smooth leaflet is up to 4,5 x 2 cm and is roughly oblong to elliptic, and well-spaced apart (photo 90).  Here the Petiolules (stalks of leaflets) are up to 4mm long (photo 90).  The Margin is rolled under and entire (with a continuous margin, not in any way indented).  Streaks and pellucid (clear, almost transparent in transmitted light) glands are visible when the leaf is viewed against a strong light.  The upper leaflet surface is shiny dark green and a lighter green below – where very short hairs may be present.  Both the Base and Apex are rounded, and the apex may be slightly notched.

Flowers

Each inflorescence has up to 12 upward facing Flowers that develop in leaf axils and are filled with nectar when mature.  The Flowers (bisexual or male) are usually produced with the new leaves on new shoots and have persistent Bracts (much-reduced specialised leaves, particularly the small scale-like leaves in a flower cluster or associated with flowers).  Bright orange-yellow flowers occur in short axillary Racemes (a simple elongated inflorescence with stalked flowers that open in succession towards the apex).  The 3-lobed Calyx has a campanulate (bell shaped) tube.  The Corolla is absent (no petals).  A distinctive hemispherical head of numerous (23+) attractive golden yellow stout Stamens (male reproductive part of a flower.  Stamens produce pollen in each terminal anther, which is usually supported by a filament).  Stamens arise from the throat of the calyx tube and protrude up to 2,5cm beyond the rest of the flower.  The Filaments are connate (united forming a single part) towards the base of the dorsifixed Anthers.  Here the anthers dehisce through longitudinal slits, releasing the pollen.  The ellipsoid, superior Ovary rests on a long stalk.  The simple Style ends with a simple Stigma.  This is a very attractive plant during flowering season.  (Sep-Nov).

Fruit

The indehiscent Fruit is an ovate (egg-shaped) large Pod, supported by a stout stalk, slightly depressed on one side and up to 8 x 6cm.  It is initially pod-like but matures to be unlike most of the Fabaceae pods.  The ripe yellow pod has a leathery skin and only resembles a semi-fleshy Drupe (or stone fruit).  It is also not a true mango, which is in the family Anacardiaceae and whose fruit is a drupe.  After falling to the ground, the fruit ripens to a yellow colour.  Up to 8 large Seeds are imbedded in a fleshy glutinous pulp.  The thin-walled, pale brown seeds may start to germinate while still in the fruit.  (Nov-Mar).

Distribution & Ecology

This tree is not endemic in South Africa.  The trees are susceptible to drought and grow in the Savannah Biome.  This covers about one-third of South Africa and is well developed over the Lowveld and Kalahari region of South Africa.  Here trees grow here at relatively low altitudes – up to 1 000m).  Their natural region in Africa is from northeastern KwaZulu-Natal, between and including Eswatini (Swaziland) and the coastline.  It is more common in riverine and swamp forest areas.  This tree occurs but is rare in Mpumalanga e.g., Kruger National Park and near Komatipoort.  The also grows in north, central and southern Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Kenya, Zambia and Tanzania.  The Flowers produce copious nectar that attracts a wide variety of birds – especially sunbirds.  Damaged parts yield a white resinous gum/resin.  Elephants, monkeys and a number of other animals consume the Fruit and this promotes seed dispersal.  Plants may become heavily infested with mistletoe.  The genus Cordyla has 7 species ranging from northern South Africa, northwards to include Senegal, Somalia, Senegal and Madagascar.  Only Cordyla africana occurs in South Africa.

Ethnobotany

Our wild mango (Cordyla africana) is smaller than the popular non-indigenous mango Mangiffera indica, which is in a different family: Anacardiaceae.  This tree often grows with Faidherbia albide (was  Acacia albida: until renamed).  Cordyla Africana has pulpy loquat-like Fruit with a high concentration of vitamin C.  It is not very tasty but edible – raw or cooked and this is unusual for a legume.  The tree provides good shade in the summer months.  The Wood is white to off-white and not very durable.  It is used for making spoons, tool handles and building – including canoes.  The wood works well on machine tools.  Boards of 2,5cm thick take about 6 weeks to air dry to 12% moisture content and the rate of shrinkage is fairly high.  Pre-boring planks will help prevent splitting.  This wood is not recommended if the finished item is to be subjected to shock.  The wood is used for fuel.   The hollowed-out trunk is used for making impressive sonorous drums.  The seeds are edible after drying over a fire.  Plant the quick growing Seeds soon after harvesting.  Traditional medicine makes use of the Bark.  This attractive tree is ideal for warm, frost-free areas.

References

Boon, R. 2010. Pooley’s Trees of eastern South Africa. Flora and Fauna Publications Trust, Durban.

Burrows, J.E., Burrows, S.M., Lotter, M.C. & Schmidt, E. 2018. Trees and Shrubs Mozambique.  Publishing Print Matters (Pty) Ltd.  Noordhoek, Cape Town.

Coates Palgrave, M. 2002. Keith Coates Palgrave Trees of Southern Africa, edn 3. Struik, Cape Town.

Geldenhuys, C.J. & Victor, J.E. 2004. Cordyla africana Lour. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version 2020.1. Accessed on 2021/12/29.

Palmer, E. & Pitman, N. 1972. Trees of southern Africa, Balkema, Amsterdam, Cape Town.

Schmidt, S. Lotter, M. & McCleland, W. 2002. Trees and Shrubs of Mpumalanga and the Kruger National Park. Jacana, Johannesburg.

van Wyk, B. & van Wyk, P. 1997 Field guide to Trees of Southern Africa. Struik, Cape Town.

 

http://pza.sanbi.org/cordyla-africana

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordyla_africana

https://uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Cordyla_africana_(PROTA)#Cordyla_richardii