South African indigenous trees and how to tell them apart

Thorn trees: sweet thorn and camel thorn

Most visitors to the bushveld meet thorn trees first, and the two most famous are easy to separate once you look at the pods and spines.

Sweet thorn was long known as Acacia karroo. The PlantZAfrica profile describes a rounded crown branching low on the trunk, up to about 12 m where water is good, with red bark on young branches. The spines are paired, greyish to white, long and straight, though they may be quite short on mature trees. Masses of yellow pompon flowers open in early summer, followed by flat, crescent-shaped pods that split open.

Camel thorn ranges from a 2 m shrub to a 16 m tree. The camel thorn profile gives spines up to 60 mm long, often with swollen bases, twice-divided leaves with 2–5 pairs of pinnae, and the giveaway: thick half-moon pods up to 130 mm long and 50 mm wide, covered in velvety grey hairs, that do not open even when ripe. It grows inland in the western half of the country, from the Northern Cape through to Limpopo.

Spine shape matters across the whole group. PlantZAfrica explains that straight, paired spines grow from modified stipules, while the short, curved, rose-like thorns of some other species are prickles from the bark's skin. Our guide to trees with thorns covers the northern-hemisphere thorn trees with the same test.

Bushveld giants: baobab, marula and leadwood

Baobab. SANBI calls it the largest succulent plant in the world. The baobab profile gives trunks of up to 28 m in girth on trees that seldom exceed 25 m tall, bark 50–100 mm thick, and branches that look like roots, hence "upside-down tree". White, sweetly scented flowers up to 200 mm across open in the late afternoon from October to December and fall within 24 hours; the egg-shaped fruit, often over 120 mm, is covered in yellowish-brown hairs.

Marula. A medium-sized to large deciduous tree with an erect trunk and rounded crown. The marula profile explains that male and female flowers grow on separate trees, so only female trees fruit. The fruit is green on the tree and turns yellow after falling, from February to June. PlantZAfrica says the tree is more dominant around Phalaborwa in Limpopo and very sensitive to frost.

Leadwood. The tallest South African combretum, up to 20 m, with a pale grey to almost white trunk and snakeskin-like bark that stays readable all year. Dead branches often remain on old trees, and dead leadwoods stand for a long time.

When a tree is too tall to reach, Tree Identifier can suggest a name from one photo of the trunk, a leaf, a flower or a fruit; the baobab is in the app's Collection. The app shows one name, not a list of alternatives, so check the clue in the table above before you settle on it.

Protected trees and the national list

South Africa protects named tree species under section 12 of the National Forests Act of 1998. The 2018 list of protected tree species (Notice 536, Schedule A) names 47 species with their national tree numbers, among them the baobab (467), camel thorn (168) and grey camel thorn (169), marula (360), the four yellowwoods (15–18), stinkwood (118), silver tree (77), shepherd's tree (122), leadwood (539), white milkwood (579), wild teak (236) and three mangroves.

On 30 March 2022, SAnews reported that four species were added to the annual list: red and pink ivory (Berchemia zeyheri), jackal berry (Diospyros mespiliformis), manketti (Schinziophyton rautanenii) and umtiza (Umtiza listeriana). Without a licence or exemption, nobody may cut, damage or destroy a protected tree, or collect, transport, buy or sell one or its products; breaking the rule is a first category offence. The list is updated every year, so check the current notice before relying on any one species' status.

Trees you see that are not indigenous

Many of the most visible trees in South African towns came from elsewhere.

• Jacaranda. The lavender-blue street tree of Pretoria, nicknamed Jacaranda City, comes from South America. The Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden lists it as a NEMBA Category 3 invasive that may not be propagated or transported. Its fern-like leaves set it apart from the indigenous trees above; see trees with purple flowers.
• Gum trees. Eucalyptus come from Australia; our eucalyptus page covers how to recognise them.
• Pines and oaks. Plantation pines and garden oaks were brought in; among the ten trees above, the only conifers are the two yellowwoods.

Indigenous and planted trees grow side by side in gardens, so a name from an app or a book still leaves the question of origin open; the SA Tree No. is a quick check, since only indigenous trees have one.