Download Bolusanthus speciosus > Universiteit van Pretoria

Bolusanthus speciosus (Bolus) Harms
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae or Papilionoideae
Common names: Tree wisteria (English); Vanwykshout (Afrikaans); Mogaba (Northern
Sotho); Motsokophala (Tswana); Mukambana (Venda), umHolo (Zulu).
SA tree number: 222
Description: A deciduous tree, sometimes up to 18 metres tall but usually shorter, with a narrow,
ascending crown and drooping branches.
The bark on young branches is smooth and light grey but much darker and deeply grooved on
older wood and stems.
The leaves are spirally arranged and compound with 3-7 pairs of leaflets and a terminal, unpaired
leaflet. Leaves are glossy dark green to glaucous and appearing silvery from a distance, leaving
leaf scars on young wood when shed.
The flowers are very showy, in long bunches, violet in colour and resembling a sweet-pea. May
be scented. Trees usually flower along with new spring leaves.
Pods are long, borne in bunches in profusion and persist on the tree for a long time.
Distribution: Usually found growing in woodland and wooded grassland in hot areas. Widely
distributed in Southern Africa. The species is an indicator of clay soils.
Name derivation: “Bolusanthus” honours Dr. Harry Bolus (1834-1911), a famous Cape botanist,
and “speciosus” means showy or beautiful.
Ecology and uses: Many species of game feed on leaves, flowers and pods. The wood is
termite and borer proof and apparently make good fence poles as they do not burn easily in veld
fires. The wood works to a fine finish and is popular for furniture.
The tree is an indicator of underground water on farmland.
Cultivation: It is easily grown from seed, but seed should be soaked in hot water overnight
before planting. The species prefers a hot dry climate with only moderate frost. Moderately fast
growing.
Notes: One of South Africa’s most beautiful flowering trees, justifiably popular in the horticultural
industry.
It should be considered and used in a garden as a large shrub as it takes an inordinate amount of
time to become really large, although it grows into a reasonable specimen quite quickly and
flowers relatively young the growth rate slows as it gets larger.
References:
• Coates Palgrave, K. & Coates Palgrave, M. 2002. Keith Coates Palgrave trees of southern
Africa edn 3. Struik, Cape Town.
• Joffe, P. 2001. Creative gardening with indigenous plants - a South African guide. Briza
Publications, Pretoria.
• Van Wyk, B. & Van Wyk, P. 1997. Field guide to the trees of southern Africa. Struik, Cape
Town.
• Van Wyk, B., van den Berg, E., Coates Palgrave, M. & Jordaan, M. 2011. Dictionary of
names for southern African trees. Briza Publications, Pretoria.
• Venter, F. and Venter, J. 1996. Making the most of indigenous trees. Briza Publications,
Pretoria.
Web Resources:
South African National Biodiversity Institute website, “Plants of South Africa”.
http://www.plantzafrica.com/frames/plantsfram.htm. Site accessed 23/01/2012.
Found in Section D of the Map