''Julbernardia globiflora'' is a tropical

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n tree widespread at moderate altitudes in

Miombo woodland The Miombo woodland is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome (in the World Wide Fund for Nature scheme) located primarily in Central Africa. It includes four woodland savanna ecoregions (listed below) characterized b ...

to the south and east of the equatorial forest region of the

Congo basin The Congo Basin (french: Bassin du Congo) is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It con ...

. Its common name is mnondo. It is ecologically important over wide areas and is dominant to co-dominant in many types of woodland, always being most successful in drier types of

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

woodland where there is less competition.

Distribution

The mnondo occurs away from the coast except at the southern limit of its range. It prefers a hot dry resting season and plenty of rain in the summer growing season. It grows best where there is a definite contrast between day and night temperatures and does best at altitudes of 1,000 metres or more (the inland plateaus of south tropical Africa.) From

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

across to

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

it is found in dry types of woodland and is seldom dominant although common in many woodland types. It is the only species of ''Julbernardia'' present in

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

(the northern parts only) and it reaches its southern extent in

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

just south of the Save River near the coast at about 22°S, not reaching outside the tropics. In

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

it is common in all types of deciduous woodland and is often co-dominant with the

msasa ''Brachystegia spiciformis'', commonly known as zebrawood, or msasa, is a medium-sized African tree having compound leaves and racemes of small fragrant green flowers. The tree is broad and has a distinctive amber and wine red colour when the y ...

and is also locally common in the drier woodland of the south where the msasa does not thrive.

Ecology

flowers and foliage The mnondo is a medium-sized tree, but larger towards the north of its range. In the northern half of its range, it is generally 15–16 meters tall but can grow up to 18 meters. There it is deciduous but may not lose all of its leaves before producing new ones. In the southern half, it is usually smaller (12–13 meters is a large specimen). There it is also deciduous but sometimes stands bare for two months or more. During spring it displays a bright red foliage, and in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi it joins the Msasa's springtime leaf show in late August. It is not as variable in its leaf colours as the msasa and the red colour fades back to green more quickly. The mnondo closely resembles the msasa in many ways and the two are not easy to tell apart, especially in the southern parts of the mnondo's range where they are much closer in size. The distinguishing feature is that the leaflets on the msasa increase in size towards the end of the leaf, making them hang downwards, while those of the mnondo are biggest in the middle so they do not hang in the same way. Secondly, the mnondo blooms later than the msasa, in mid-summer (around January). Although the flowers are just as insignificant as those of the msasa, the mnondo pods are concentrated at the top and sides of the tree and are readily visible in late summer, unlike the msasa's that are among the leaves. The mnondo also has a less impressive shape and lighter branches so it is less attractive in appearance.

References

* Coates Palgrave, K. (1997) Trees of Southern Africa, Struik Publishers * Sikho Megi, Miombo woodlands of Southern Africa

External links

''Julbernardia globiflora''
USDA factsheet {{Taxonbar, from=Q6305620 globiflora Trees of Africa Flora of West-Central Tropical Africa Flora of South Tropical Africa Miombo Afromontane flora Trees of Southern Africa