Brachystegia stipulata

Brachystegia stipulata De Wild.

Common names

Kapapa, ngansa, lupapa, musombi, musombo (Bemba); muwombo (Bemba/Kunda/Tumbuka); chilenga-lala, nyanda, mnyanda, msendaluzi (Nyanja); mfunda-nzizi (Nyanja/Tumbuka).

General description and distinguishing characteristics

A small tree of 3-8 m, Brachystegia stipulata has a rounded crown, is usually found in stands, and is almost invariably associated with thin soils. It is distinctive due to its auricles - leaf-like structures that are found in the axils of the branchlets and in the case of B. stipulata are large (1-2 cm diameter), kidney-shaped and light green in colour. Bark: Grey, smoothish in young specimens to deeply furrowed or reticulate in older trees. Leaves: Alternate compound paripinnate with 5-9 pairs of slightly spaced leaflets on each leaf. The leaf rachis is often covered in rusty-ochreous hairs. The leaflets are oblong to lanceolate, typically 1.2-2.5 x 3.5-6.5 cm, and are dark green and shiny above, paler green below. The leaves appear as a salmon pink flush in September-October. Stipules persistent, linear to falcate 1-5 x 10-20 mm. Auricles large (1-2 cm diameter), light green, kidney-shaped and persistent. Flowers: Produced in terminal and axillary panicles, the flowers are comparatively large (1 cm diameter), and are usually densely hairy. Flowering takes place at the end of the dry season around September-October. Fruit: A flattened rhomboid-oblong pod, 3-4 x 8-12 cm, smooth pinkish brown, becoming brown and woody before dehiscence. Ripening March to September the year after flowering.

Range and habitat

Outside Zambia, Brachystegia stipulata occurs in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and DR Congo. In the valley it is a shallow soil species and is often associated with Julbernardia globiflora. It is primarily a tree of basement schist country, and is able to withstand partial waterlogging. It is not found on good soils. B. stipulata is locally common on stony hillsides, quartzite ridges, laterite soils and dambo edges, usually at relatively low altitude (700-1000 m). This tree is typical of the foothills of the Muchinga escarpment to the west of the valley, where it forms almost pure stands.