Tree #48 Historic Trees of Zimbabwe – The Baobab at Sibuyu Pan
Along the old Hunters Road that runs between Zimbabwe and Botswana lies a small pan, called Sibuyu pan, named for the impressive baobab tree that once stood next to it. Before the completion of the railway in 1904, travellers from Cape Town to Victoria Falls (a journey by horse or ox cart of up to […]
Tree #1 Historic Trees of Zimbabwe – Zimbabwe’s First Jacaranda
In October, the streets of Zimbabwe’s capital city, Harare, are a riot of purple blossom from the spectacular jacaranda tree. In this episode, Gus, the African Plant Hunter, takes us to the site of the very first jacaranda tree in Harare. Introduced to Zimbabwe in the 1890s, the jacaranda is native to Mina Gerais in […]
Tree #45 Historic Trees of Zimbabwe – The Fossil Trees of Detema
Conifers, in Africa? Surely not! But wait, these aren’t ordinary trees. These are fossilised trees, and they’re 200 million years old! Join Gus, the African Plant Hunter, on his visit to Detema Dam in the iconic, elephant-filled Hwange National Park to track down Tree #45 in Lyn Mullin’s book, Historic Trees of Zimbabwe.
Tree #49 Historic Trees of Zimbabwe – the Sycamore Fig of Pandamatenga
In a remote stretch of African bushveld, a lone sycomore fig rises up above the grasslands, providing shade and shelter to elephants, plains game and the occasional lion or leopard. And, on this day, to an itinerant African Plant Hunter, who is on a mission to visit every tree in the Lyn Mullin’s seminal book, […]
Tree #74 Historic Trees of Zimbabwe – The Giant Ebony of Nyahungwe
Deep in the heart of Gonarezhou National Park, a stand of large Diospyros mespiiformis trees serve to remind us of the times gone by when some of the main exports from Africa were ebony and ivory. Both are found in this magnificent park – the ivory mostly moves around on four legs and doesn’t like […]
Tree #70 Historic Trees of Zimbabwe – the Newtonia Grove at Nyahungwe
At a remote spot in the northern sector of Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe, stand a grove of uncommon Newtonia hildebrandtii trees. The grove has a mystical, almost supernatural feel to it. Home to elephants, kudu, waterbuck and baboons, it is rarely visited by humans, and is one of only two known examples of the […]
Tree #2 Historic Trees of Zimbabwe – the Josiah Chinamano Flamboyant
In a row of perfectly aligned jacaranda trees, one lone flamboyant stands, offset from the line, and very clearly the odd man out. Why?! Welcome to Josiah Chinamano avenue in Harare, Zimbabwe, where Gus, the African Plant Hunter, reveals the quirky secret behind this tree’s eccentric past and the remarkable man, Sir William Milton, who […]
Tree #10 Historic Trees of Zimbabwe The Flamboyants of Blakiston St
Tree #3 Historic Trees of Zimbabwe – The Umbrella Thorn of Clyde Road
Back in the 1980s, Zimbabwe was in the grips of a fuel crisis (remember those?!). Motorists would sit patiently for hours, queueing outside filling stations waiting for fuel. As these queues became an increasingly common feature of people’s daily lives, so certain landmarks associated with the queues also assumed central importance. One of these was […]
Tree #8 Historic Trees of Zimbabwe – the Julius Nyerere Washingtonias
In his ongoing series visiting the trees listed in Lyn Mullin’s book “Historic Trees of Zimbabwe”, Gus (the African Plant Hunter) shares the story of the magnificent Washingtonia robusta palm trees that run down the centre of the widest avenue in the capital city, Harare. These trees, familiar to anyone who’s ever strolled down the […]