''Aloidendron dichotomum'', formerly ''Aloe dichotoma'', the quiver tree or kokerboom, is a tall, branching species of succulent plant, indigenous to

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...

, specifically in the Northern Cape province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, and parts of Southern

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

Naming

Known as ''choje'' to the indigenous

San people The San peoples (also Saan), or Bushmen, are members of various Khoe, Tuu, or Kxʼa-speaking indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures that are the first cultures of Southern Africa, and whose territories span Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia ...

, the quiver tree gets its English common name from the San people practice of hollowing out the tubular branches of ''Aloidendron dichotomum'' to form

quiver A quiver is a container for holding arrows, bolts, ammo, projectiles, darts, or javelins. It can be carried on an archer's body, the bow, or the ground, depending on the type of shooting and the archer's personal preference. Quivers were trad ...

s for their arrows. The specific epithet ''"dichotomum"'' refers to how the stems repeatedly branch into two ("

dichotomous A dichotomy is a partition of a whole (or a set) into two parts (subsets). In other words, this couple of parts must be * jointly exhaustive: everything must belong to one part or the other, and * mutually exclusive: nothing can belong simult ...

" branching) as the plant grows. This species was moved to the genus '' Aloidendron'' as ''Aloidendron dichotomum'' in 2013.

Related species

Three separate species, ''A. dichotomum'', '' A. pillansii'' and '' A. ramosissimum'' inhabit the same arid areas of the Richtersveld and the

Namib Desert The Namib ( ; pt, Namibe) is a coastal desert in Southern Africa. The name is of Khoekhoegowab origin and means "vast place". According to the broadest definition, the Namib stretches for more than along the Atlantic coasts of Angola, Nami ...

around the South African-Namibian border. The three have been given different ratings on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: 'vulnerable' for ''A. dichotomum'', 'critically endangered' for ''A. pillansii'' and 'endangered' for ''A. ramossisimum''. The three species can be distinguished. In ''A. pillansii'', the

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

s hang from below the lowest leaves, rather than growing erect. ''A. ramosissimum'' is considerably smaller—rarely reaching more than 2 m in height—and assumes a more shrub-like shape. While there is a gradation between tree-like ''A. dichotomum'' and the shrubby ''A. ramosissimum'', the relatively unique ''A. pillansii'' population is separated by a different flowering time and therefore does not interbreed with the other two species.

Distribution and conservation

One of the few examples of spontaneous forests of ''A. dichotomum'' is the Quiver Tree Forest, about 14 km north of Keetmanshoop, in

. Another is located in the Northern Cape of South Africa at Gannabos. Throughout much of its range this species is in decline. Modeling of ''Aloidendron dichotomum'' in

and

has contributed to understanding the needs of protected areas in response to climate change. Modelled range declines in this species due to climate change have recently been confirmed by field surveys.

Cultivation

''Aloidendron dichotomum'' is cultivated in arid areas around the world, for use in landscaping. The slow growth rate and relative rarity of the plant make it a particularly expensive specimen. It is also relatively difficult to keep outside of its natural habitat. In cultivation it requires extremely well-drained coarse mineral sand (preferably with some loam and bone meal to keep it active and growing), full sun, good aeration and extremely little water - primarily in the winter (as it mainly occurs in winter rainfall desert). In the (rare) event that it is under-watered, the leaves will curl up and die off at the tips; this is not fatal, but indicates that it is relatively dry. It is unusually prone to aphids and insect infections in between its leaves, and this is exacerbated whenever there is not full sun and constant fresh air movement. Indoor plants require frequent treatment for these pests. Fungicide can also be added occasionally, to protect from rot. It can be propagated from seed and (with more difficulty) from cuttings or truncheons. Cuttings need to be thoroughly dried for several weeks in a shaded area, before being planted.

In popular culture

Michael Benson's book ''Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpiece'' (2018) briefly discusses how the kokerboom piqued the interest of film director, Stanley Kubrick. The book claims that several protected kokerboom trees were cut down so they could be used to film '' 2001: A Space Odyssey''.Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpiece. (2018) p. 277.
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Gallery

Image:Áloe-aljaba (Aloe dichotoma), parque nacional de Namib-Naukluft, Namibia, 2018-08-05, DD 39.jpg, Quiver tree in the

Namib-Naukluft National Park The Namib-Naukluft Park is a national park in western Namibia, situated between the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and the edge of the Great Escarpment. It encompasses part of the Namib Desert (considered the world's oldest desert), the Naukluft mo ...

, Namibia. Image:Aloe dichotoma in Phoenix.jpg, In bloom. Image:Köcherbaum Köcherbaumwald 01.JPG, Quiver tree in southern Namibia. Image:Aloe-dichotoma-young-time-comparison.jpg, Growth of a young plant from May to August. Image:Koecherbaum Fish River Canyon anagoria.JPG, Quiver tree at Fish River Canyon, Namibia. Image:Köcherbaumwald-01.jpg, Quiver Tree Forest near Keetmanshoop, Namibia, in the evening. Image:Kokerboom.jpg,

Sociable Weaver The sociable weaver (''Philetairus socius'') is a species of bird in the weaver family that is endemic to southern Africa. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Philetairus''. It is found in South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana. but th ...

(''Philetairus socius'') nest in a Quiver tree. Northern Cape, South Africa. Image:Kokerboom in flower.jpg, Quiver tree in flower in the Augrabies National Park, South Africa. Image:Kokerboom flowers.jpg, The flowers of the Quiver tree in May. Augrabies National Park, South Africa. Image:Doleritfelsen und Köcherbäume.jpg, Quiver trees and

Dolerite Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grain ...

rocks near Keetmanshoop. Quiver-Tree-Bark.JPG, Close-up photo of bark on a quiver tree.

References

External links

Desert-tropicals.com profile

* {{Taxonbar, from1=Q42729505, from2=Q161263 Asphodeloideae Flora of the Cape Provinces Flora of Namibia Trees of South Africa Garden plants of Southern Africa Ornamental trees