Buffalo-thorn (Ziziphus mucronata)

•Luise Hoffmann THE buffalo thorn is easy to recognise by its shiny bright green leaves and its paired thorns consisting of one hooked thorn and one very sharp straight thorn.

It is quite common all over Namibia, especially along watercourses and around velleys, where it often forms a spreading tree of up to 6 metres. In drier localities it usually is a, much smaller shrubby bush or tree.

Names: A. blinkblaar-wag-‘n-bietjie; G & H: omukaru.

The Afrikaans name refers to the shiny leaves and the sharp thorns that slow down your progress through the bush, i.e. make you wait.

The botanical name Ziziphus is based on an old Arabian plant name ‘zizouf’, while mucronata describes the somewhat stunted tip of the asymmetric heart to egg-shaped leaf, which ends abruptly in a sharp point and which has three marked veins starting from the base.

Inconspicuous, green to yellow green flowers appear in clusters from October to April and develop into smooth berries, up to 10 mm in diameter, with a thin layer of flesh and red-brown when ripe.

In frost-free areas the buffalo thorn is evergreen but drops its leaves in colder regions.

Remarks: The very nutritious leaves are browsed by game and livestock, while birds eat the fruit remaining on the tree long after the leaves have fallen. They have a tart, sweetish taste.

The tough elastic wood is suitable for tool handles, walking sticks and bows. It was preferred as whip-stick for the long whips used to urge on the 10 pairs of oxen pulling the wagons during pioneer times, the only means of heavy freight transport available in those days.

The mealy fruit flesh mixed with water makes a refreshing drink that can also be fermented. The roasted seeds were used as coffee substitute in times of need. The flowers provide nectar attracting many insects and birds.

Pulverised roots are used to treat wounds and a decoction of the roots is a widely known general painkiller.

A tea prepared from the leaves alleviates chest complaints. Roots and leaves pounded together are used as poultice on boils, sores and swollen glands.

The tannin in the bark makes it suitable for tanning skins. San hunters mix the juice of this tree with the crushed larvae of the bug Diamphidia simplex to prepare their arrow poison.

The juice of chewed leaves alleviates stomach complaints – a fact recently confirmed by a tour guide on a guest farm.

The name ‘buffalo thorn’ refers to the way the tough branches get inextricably entangled when used as enclosures to protect livestock from predators.

In the vicinity of Stellenbosch I have seen this tree trained along fences to keep thieves out of vineyards.

According to a visitor in the Botanical Garden in former times when lions were still hunted by men armed only with spears and a pack of dogs, a sturdy, well-leaved branch of this tree was poked into the face of the attacking male lion. Its mane became entangled in the thorns, disorientating the beast and allowing the men to close in for the kill.

The buffalo thorn thrives on almost any type of soil and is drought and frost resistant. Its root system is non-aggressive. Cut away the lower branches to keep them out of your hair and you have a pretty and very hardy garden tree.