Fabaceae
Colophospermum

Colophospermum mopane (J.Kirk ex Benth.) J.Léonard

First published in Bull. Jard. Bot. État Bruxelles 19: 390 (1949)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is S. Tropical & S. Africa. It is a shrub or tree and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

Kew Species Profiles

General Description
The mopane tree is reputed to provide the best fuelwood in Africa. Colophospermum mopane (or mopane as it is commonly known) is an economically and ecologically important tree that dominates the savanna woodlands of south-central Africa.

Species Profile
Geography and distribution

This species occurs in an area exceeding 500,000 km² in south-central Africa, which includes southern Angola, northern Namibia, northern Botswana, Zimbabwe, southern Zambia, southern Malawi, northern South Africa and Mozambique.

Description

Overview:  Colophospermum mopane occurs in a variety of forms depending on local environmental conditions. These range from a small stunted form, usually not more than 2 m tall, which does not produce fruit, to a fruit-bearing tree of 20 m in height.

Leaves: The leaves comprise a single pair of leaflets, each measuring about 5 to 10 cm long by 2.5 to 5 cm wide.

Flowers: The flowers are greenish, inconspicuous and about half a centimetre long.

Pods: The pods are pale brown, flattened and up to 6 cm long and 3 cm wide.

The species grows gregariously, meaning that many individuals grow together to the near or complete exclusion of other plant species. The pollen is thought to be carried on the wind. This method of pollination is often associated with inconspicuous flowers because plants that do not require an insect or animal to pollinate their flowers, do not need to develop conspicuous flowers to attract the pollinator.

Threats and conservation

This widely distributed species is not currently a conservation concern.

Uses

The principal uses of Colophospermum mopane include timber, fuel wood, animal browse in the dry season (but it is also used for fodder), medicine, tannins, resins and soil stabilisation.

Colophospermum mopane is of great value in southern and south central Africa. It is an important species in savanna and woodland ecosystems, providing important resources for people, animals, insects and the soil.

The greatest biocultural value placed on mopane is for fuel and timber. A recent study showed that families in the rural north-east of South Africa harvest up to 8 kg of mopane a day for fuelwood. The timber is used for fencing and construction; it is known to be durable and resistant to insect damage.

Colophospermum mopane is a vital constituent of mopane woodland, providing browse for elephants and other herbivorous animals. It is the host plant of the mopane worm, the larva of the moth Acanthocampa belina . The large caterpillars measure up to 8 cm in length. They are an important food source in Botswana and are a highly sought after and protein-rich delicacy.

Millennium Seed Bank: Seed storage

Kew's Millennium Seed Bank Partnership aims to save plant life world wide, focusing on plants under threat and those of most use in the future. Seeds are dried, packaged and stored at a sub-zero temperature in our seed bank vault.

Number of seed collections stored in the Millennium Seed Bank: Four

Seed storage behaviour: Orthodox - the seeds of this plant survive being dried without significantly reducing their viability, and are therefore amenable to long-term frozen storage such as at the MSB

Germination testing: Successful

Composition values: Oil content 10%

Cultivation

Colophospermum mopane is grown at Kew in a mix that is high in organic matter. The mix also contains perlite, granular fertiliser and Seramis. The zone in which the pot is kept is heated to 24 ˚C during the day and 18 ˚C at night. In the winter however the zone is simply kept frost-free to simulate temperate conditions. Soil moisture is checked daily but usually the species will only require water twice a week in these conditions. Feeding is carried out twice a week. This consists of a foliar feed and a liquid applied to the root zone. This species is grown under bright light, with very little shading used. Colophospermum mopane has not yet flowered at Kew.

This species at Kew

There is one specimen of this woody plant at Kew, growing in the Jodrell Glasshouses, one of Kew's behind-the-scenes areas.

A host to noisy, yet delicious, caterpillars!

Trees of Colophospermum mopane often play host to the mopane worm which is the larval form of the moth Acanthocampa belina . Caterpillars eating the protein-rich leaves of Colophospermum mopane sometimes occur in such large numbers that the sound of their feasting can be heard from several metres away. The large caterpillars measure up to eight centimetres long! They are a highly sought after local delicacy and are rich in protein.

Distribution
Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa
Ecology
In river valleys, woodland or wooded grassland, commonly below 1,000 m altitude.
Conservation
This widely distributed species is not currently a conservation concern.
Hazards

None.

[KSP]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/62021750/62021758

Conservation
LC - least concern
[IUCN]

International Legume Database and Information Service

Conservation
Not Threatened
Ecology
Africa: Zambezian woodland, Kalahari-Highveld regional transition zone; bushland and thicket., Karroo-Namib woodland
Morphology General Habit
Perennial, Not climbing, Shrub/Tree
Vernacular
Butterfly Tree, Mopane, Mupane, Mupani, Turpentine Tree
[ILDIS]

Leguminosae, R.K. Brummitt, A.C. Chikuni, J.M. Lock and R.M. Polhill. Flora Zambesiaca 3:2. 2007

Morphology General Habit
Small to medium tree 4–15 m tall, or sometimes larger up to 22 m, with 1–several main trunks from the base and rather few main branches diverging at a narrow angle or sometimes remaining stunted as a shrub; bark deeply vertically fissured, often in an elongate-reticulate pattern; deciduous.
Morphology Branches
Young branches glabrous, smooth, grey.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves consisting of a petiole, one pair of leaflets, and a small flat appendage 2–4(5) × 1–1.5 mm at the petiole apex on the ventral side; petiole (1)1.5–4(4.8) cm long, glabrous; leaflets (2)4–10(13) × (1.5)2.5–5(6.5) cm, obliquely ovate or lanceolate to falcate-triangular, somewhat asymmetric at the base and with a basal pulvinus broader than long and (7)8–12(14) prominent nerves radiating from it (a distinct midrib lacking), acute to obtuse at the apex, glabrous, coriaceous, with a raised reticulum of secondary veins, with numerous pellucid gland dots; stipules up to 5 × 3.5 mm, ovate, falling very early.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences of usually 7–13-flowered axillary racemes up to 7 cm long (including peduncle), simple or sometimes with one or two branches at the base, or occasionally almost forming a panicle towards the ends of branches; bracts broadly ovate to suborbicular, caducous leaving a raised scar below the pedicel; pedicels 4–8 mm long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flower buds spherical, up to 4(6) mm diameter.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Sepals 4, 2 outer enclosing two inner in bud, suborbicular, green or yellowish, scarious towards margins, glabrous, all reflexed in flower.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens 20–25; filaments c.6 mm long, whitish; anthers 1.3–2(2.5) mm long, yellowish.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
Ovary c.3 × 1.5 mm, flat, obovate, rounded at distal end, with style attached on upper margin, glabrous; style c.2 mm long, glabrous; stigma broad, asymmetrically peltate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruits (2.7)3–4.5(6) × 1.8–2.5(3.2) cm, asymmetrically obovate to laterally reniform (i.e. reniform with the pedicel attached at one side, not in the middle of the curve), rounded distally and with the attachment of the style half to two-thirds of the way along the upper side, compressed, glabrous, straw-coloured with minute sunken glandular flecks of darker brown, usually with raised reticulate venation, indehiscent.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seed filling most of the fruit, compressed, subreniform, with a flattened margin c.1 mm wide, the surface deeply contorted into a pattern of ridges and valleys and pitted with numerous reddish glands, sticky.
[FZ]

Uses

Use
Timber, fuelwood, fodder, medicine, tannins, resins and soil stabilisation.
[KSP]

Use
Forage, Medicine, Wood
[ILDIS]

Common Names

English
Balsam tree, Black ironwood, Butterfly tree, Mopane

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    • Flora Zambesiaca
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • IUCN Categories

    • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • International Legume Database and Information Service

    • International Legume Database and Information Service (ILDIS) V10.39 Nov 2011
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Species Profiles

    • Kew Species Profiles
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Plants and People Africa

    • Common Names from Plants and People Africa http://www.plantsandpeopleafrica.com/
    • © Plants and People Africa http://www.plantsandpeopleafrica.com http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/