Indigenous tree of the month (1)

When the developers of our village decided to establish their fifth security retirement village on a property in the tranquil Bushveld town of Warmbaths in the late eighties, one of the (unintended?) consequences was to retain as many of the indigenous trees and shrubs as possible.

Residents soon embraced indigenous trees and shrubs as their legacy and have since purposefully dedicated themselves to their conservation. For example, Par.16.3 of our Rules of Conduct states that “trees and plants that have established naturally must not be damaged … “

Our monthly newsletter, Kwêvoël, recently declared that it will provide information about the indigenous trees that occur in our village in the coming months.

This month Kwêvoël starts the series with the Poora-berry (Vitex pooara) tree. As far as can be ascertained, only two specimens grow in our village.

The Poora-berry (Vitex pooara) tree

The Poora-berry is described it as a small deciduous tree; occurring in bushveld on rocky hillsides, usually in sandy soil. Its hairy leaves are a dull yellowish green.

Its hairy leaves are a dull yellowish green

It bears fleshy fruit that are edible and popular with the workers in the village. However, the fruit is rather unpleasantly scented, said to be reminiscent of bedbugs. Hence the unflattering vernacular names, such as stinkbessie or weeluisvrug or weeluisbessie.

It bears fleshy fruit that are edible 

Locals often use the young leaves to produce a spinach-like dish, while they (the leaves) are known to enhance the taste of traditional dishes such as skaapbredie. Livestock farmers often depend on the foliage to keep their animals from starving during the dry months when there is little grass. 

Lastly, indigenous people often use the twigs as chew sticks to clean their teeth.