Combretum apiculatum

Combretum apiculatum Sond. subsp. apiculatum Exell

Common names

Red bushwillow (English); kalamafupa (Bemba); kapumpa, mumpumpa (Kunda); kakolo, kakunguni, kangolo, mbondo, muchenadota, mugarasaka, ngolufute (Nyanja); manoyonya (Tumbuka).

General description and distinguishing characteristics

A small, deciduous tree 4-10 m tall. Bark light grey to greyish-black, deeply fissured in older trees; branchlets dotted with scales. Leaves simple, opposite, 3-13 x 1.5-7.5 cm. Leaves hairless, broadly to narrowly obovate-elliptic, apex usually apiculate (i.e. with a drip tip), base rounded, petiole up to 1 cm long. The leaves are a conspicuous yellowish green in colour and relatively thinly textured. Flowers scented, cream or yellow in dense, axillary spikes up to 7 cm long (October-January). Fruit four winged, yellow with reddish wings drying to a shiny biscuit brown, 2-3 x 1.5-2.5 cm in diameter (December-May).

Combretum apiculatum subsp. leutweinii also occurs in the Luangwa valley but is much less common. This subspecies can be distinguished from C. apiculatum subsp. apiculatum by its hairy leaves and fruit.

Distribution and habitat

Combretum apiculatum subsp. apiculatum occurs throughout east and southern Africa. In the valley it is characteristic of the foothills of the Muchinga escarpment where it is a dominant species in Combretum-Terminalia-Diospyros wooded grassland.