Wonderboom Nature Reserve
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The Wonderboom Nature Reserve ( af, Wonderboom-natuurreservaat) is a 1 km², 200-hectare reserve that incorporates a section of the
Magaliesberg The Magaliesberg (historically also known as ''Macalisberg'' or ''Cashan Mountains'') of northern South Africa, is a modest but well-defined mountain range composed mainly of quartzites. It rises at a point south of the Pilanesberg (and the Pil ...
range in the northern portion of the
Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...
metropole,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. Its main attractions are the ''Wonderboom'' (
Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
for "Marvel tree") near the reserve entrance in Lavender street and the derelict Fort Wonderboompoort on the crest of the Magaliesberg, that was constructed towards the end of the nineteenth century, during the
Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...
. The latter is reached by following the steep, paved walkway that leads from the picnic area to the summit. The vicinity of the fort ruins also afford sweeping views of the city, whose council declared the area around the ''Wonderboom'' and both banks of the
Apies River __NOTOC__ The Apies River is a river that flows through the city of Pretoria, South Africa. Its source is located just south of the city (south of Erasmus Park) and it flows northward until it drains into the Pienaars River. The word "Apies" is Af ...
a reserve on 28 December 1949.


Wonderboom

The well-known ' Wonderboom' (
Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
: 'Wonder tree') is a dense grove of parent and daughter trees of the species ''
Ficus salicifolia __NOTOC__ The Wonderboom (''Ficus salicifolia'') is an evergreen fig species that ranges from the KwaZulu-Natal midlands northwards to tropical East Africa. It grows especially on outcrops, rocky hillsides and along cliffs fringing water courses ...
'', that descended from a central bole of about a thousand years old. It is situated at the northern base of the Magaliesberg, and two circular walkways currently protect it from pedestrian traffic around its trunk and roots. As it has grown, its outlying branches have rooted themselves around the parent tree. This has repeated until there are now three layers of daughter trees encircling the mother fig, with thirteen distinct trunks, covering a 50m² (1.5 ha) area. The mother trunk is 4 m in circumference and 20 m high. Apart from its unusual height for a wild tree of this species, its method of reproduction is a rare natural phenomenon. The tree was so remarkable that the original inhabitants of the Magaliesberge considered it sacred, especially after a chieftain was buried there. In August 1836,
Hendrik Potgieter Andries Hendrik Potgieter, known as Hendrik Potgieter (19 December 1792 – 16 December 1852) was a Voortrekker leader and the last known Champion of the Potgieter family. He served as the first head of state of Potchefstroom from 1840 and 184 ...
and his fellow
Voortrekker The Great Trek ( af, Die Groot Trek; nl, De Grote Trek) was a Northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyon ...
s passing through and gave the tree its name. Later, other Trekkers pitched their tent there, making it a notable landmark in
Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from Free Burghers, predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: ...
history. For many years, the
Day of the Vow The Day of the Vow ( af, Geloftedag) is a religious public holiday in South Africa. It is an important day for Afrikaners, originating from the Battle of Blood River on 16 December 1838, before which about 400 Voortrekkers made a promise to God ...
was celebrated in its shade. Until part of the original tree burned in an 1870 fire, a thousand people could sit in the tree's shade. According to records, the tree was also large enough to leave in its shadow twenty-two ox-wagons with twenty oxen in front of each. The tree was placed under quarantine in 1985 after it was afflicted by a fungal disease, and then fenced to prevent it from spreading. Once the fungus was eradicated, the quarantine was lifted in 2003.


Other features

Other features of the Wonderboom Nature Reserve include a
Stone-Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...
site that has produced the largest single accumulation of
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
tools ever found in South Africa and an
Iron-Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly a ...
site. Larger game species such as impala and zebra roam the reserve, as do
monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...
s, and a breeding pair of
black eagles Black Eagles ( es, Águilas Negras) is a term describing a series of Colombian drug trafficking, right-wing, counter-revolutionary, paramilitary organizations made up of new and preexisting paramilitary forces, who emerged from the failures ...
have raised chicks in the reserve since 2010, feeding on the
rock hyrax The rock hyrax (; ''Procavia capensis''), also called dassie, Cape hyrax, rock rabbit, and (in the King James Bible) coney, is a medium-sized terrestrial mammal native to Africa and the Middle East. Commonly referred to in South Africa as the das ...
es living in caves on the banks of the Apies.


Hours

The reserve has picnic areas and can be visited between 7:00 AM and 6:00 PM (exit only after 4:00 PM)


Biodiversity


Birds

There are at least 200 species of birds, including:


Fauna

{{Species list ,
Impala The impala or rooibok (''Aepyceros melampus'') is a medium-sized antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The only extant member of the genus '' Aepyceros'' and tribe Aepycerotini, it was first described to European audiences by Germa ...
, ,
Porcupine Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two families of animals: the Old World porcupines of family Hystricidae, and the New World porcupines of family, Erethizont ...
, ,
Rock hyrax The rock hyrax (; ''Procavia capensis''), also called dassie, Cape hyrax, rock rabbit, and (in the King James Bible) coney, is a medium-sized terrestrial mammal native to Africa and the Middle East. Commonly referred to in South Africa as the das ...
, ,
Zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zeb ...
(Four zebras were introduced from the
Kruger National Park Kruger National Park is a South African National Park and one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, and extends from north to south and from ea ...
in 1965), ,
Trachylepis varia The eastern variable skink (''Trachylepis varia'') is a species of skink Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic gene ...
,
Mochlus sundevallii ''Mochlus sundevallii'', also known commonly as Peters' eyelid skink, Peters' writhing skink, and Sundevall's writhing skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Sub-Saharan Africa. Etymology The specifi ...


Flora

{{Species list ,
Dichrostachys cinerea ''Dichrostachys cinerea'', known as sicklebush, Bell mimosa, Chinese lantern tree or Kalahari Christmas tree (South Africa), is a legume of the genus ''Dichrostachys'' in the family Fabaceae. Other common names include omubambanjobe (Tooro Ugan ...
, ,
Ficus Salicifolia __NOTOC__ The Wonderboom (''Ficus salicifolia'') is an evergreen fig species that ranges from the KwaZulu-Natal midlands northwards to tropical East Africa. It grows especially on outcrops, rocky hillsides and along cliffs fringing water courses ...
, ,
Pappea capensis ''Pappea capensis'' is a South African tree in the family Sapindaceae. It is the only species in the genus ''Pappea''. Common names Common names include Jacket plum, Indaba tree and bushveld cherry. In other languages, it is known as: ' (Afrik ...
, ,
Sclerocarya birrea ''Sclerocarya birrea'' ( grc, σκληρός , "hard", and , "nut", in reference to the stone inside the fleshy fruit), commonly known as the marula, is a medium-sized deciduous fruit-bearing tree, indigenous to the miombo woodlands of Sout ...
''subsp.'' Caffra, , Searsia lancea, ,
Searsia leptodictya ''Searsia leptodictya'' is known as mountain karee in English, bergkaree in Afrikaans, and mohlwehlwe in Sotho language, Sotho. An evergreen tree reaching a height of 5 metres and a similar spread, it is drought resistant but only semi frost hard ...
, ,
Acacia nilotica ''Vachellia nilotica'', more commonly known as ''Acacia nilotica'', and by the vernacular names of gum arabic tree, babul, thorn mimosa, Egyptian acacia or thorny acacia, is a flowering tree in the family Fabaceae. It is native to Africa, the Mi ...
, , Zisiphus mucronata,


See also

*
List of Champion Trees (South Africa) Champion Trees in South Africa are individual trees or groves that have been identified as having special significance, and therefore protected under Section 12(1) of the National Forests Act of 1998 by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries ...
*
List of individual trees The following is a list of notable trees. Trees listed here are regarded as important or specific by their historical, national, locational, natural or mythological context. The list includes actual trees located throughout the world, as well as ...


References

{{reflist


External links


Wonderboom Nature Reserve
{{Pretoria Protected areas of Gauteng Nature reserves in South Africa Nature reserves in Pretoria History of Pretoria