Brachystegia manga

Brachystegia manga DeWild.

Common names

Blue-leaved Brachystegia (English); musompa (Bemba); mukongolo (Bemba/Nyanja); msendaluzi, msenga, mvukwe, msumbu, mtubila, mtuwa, mutowa, mutuba, musumbu (Nyanja).

General description and distinguishing characteristics

A medium-sized tree of 8-10 m, Brachystegia manga has a light, rounded crown and blue-green leaflets. Bark: Grey and smooth in younger specimens, fissured with rectangular scales in older trees. Leaves: Alternate compound paripinnate with 3 - 4 (6) pairs of leaflets on each leaf. The leathery leaflets are elliptic-oblong (assymetric), with a rounded to obtuse apex, typically 2-3.5 x 3-6 cm. Their colour is glaucous blue-green, and they produce a plum-purple flush in September-October. Stipules fall early. Auricles absent. Flowers: Inconspicuous, and produced in terminal and axillary racemes, the greenish white flowers are usually produced in October-November. Fruit: A flattened rhomboid pod, green, becoming brown and woody with age. Typically 2-3 x 7-10 cm; ripening between July and September of the dry season following flowering.

Brachystegia manga might be mistaken for Brachystegia allenii which also has blue-green leaflets. However, those of B. manga are more pointed and are not twisted obliquely in relation to the leaf stalk.

Range and habitat

B. manga occurs in Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and DR Congo. In the valley, Brachystegia manga prefers altitudes above 1000 m, but may be found at lower elevations, and is most abundant on well-drained, orange or buff sandy basement complex soils.