Brachystegia boehmii

Brachystegia boehmii Taub.

Common names

Prince of Wales feathers (English); ingyansa, kapapa (Bemba); musamba (Nyanja); ngansa (Kunda/Tumbuka); muwombo, muombo, mubombo (Bemba/Nyanja); ziye, ziye-ngansa (Kunda); mufunda-nzinzi, chiyombo (Kunda/Nyanja Tumbuka).

The name ‘muombo’, here applied to Brachystegia boehmii but also given to B. longifolia, is the origin of the word ‘miombo’, which is simply the plural form.

General description and distinguishing characteristics

A tree to 15 m, Brachystegia boehmii is well known for its flat-crowned shape and drooping, feather-like leaves. These are especially striking when in flush, the salmon pink to bright red leaflets appearing like some extraordinary flower. Bark: Grey to grey-black, with rectangular scales and deep vertical fissures on mature specimens; purple-grey on branches. Leaves: Alternate compound paripinnate with 11-30 pairs of leaflets on each leaf. Leaflets oblong to oblong triangular with a slightly wider (assymetric) base than apex; subsessile, crowded on the ± ochreous-rusty pubescent rhachis. Leaflets typically 0.5-1.5 x 2-6 cm, deep green shiny to glaucous above, paler grey-green ± velvety below. Auricles present, kidney shaped to semi-circular, 0.5-1 x 1-2 cm. Stipules persistent, 0.1-0.3 x 1.5-5.5 cm. Flowers: Produced in terminal racemes, the regular flowers have velvety brown sepals and pedicels, and a greenish white corolla (diameter up to 1.5 cm). The anthers are bright yellow. The flowers are produced at the end of the dry season (September-November). Fruit: A flattened rhomboid pod, green when young, orange-brown when maturing, becoming woody and dehiscing explosively with age. Typically 2-3.5 x 8-11 cm; appearing in December-January, and bursting at the end of the following dry season (October). The shiny dark brown seeds are disc like and approximately 1 cm in diameter.

B. boehmii can be confused with Brachystegia longifolia or Brachystegia wangermeeana, but neither of these species are likely to be found on the valley floor.

Range and habitat

Brachystegia boehmii is found at altitudes ranging from 700-1600 m, and occurs in Zambia, Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, DR Congo and Zimbabwe. In the valley Brachystegia boehmii commonly occurs on the thin, stony soils of the foothills of the Muchinga and Eastern escarpments. Common associates of this species in the thin-soiled niches are Julbernardia globiflora, Kirkia acuminata and Sterculia quinqueloba.