Description
This is one of the fastest growing indigenous trees and is also one of our protected trees. It is deciduous and can grow up to 30 m tall. The young stems are greenish, grey colour. The straight, whitish thorns, grow in pairs, are up to 40 mm long. The scented, pale cream-coloured flowers are a spike shape. They open from March to September, followed by fruit from September to December. The fruit is orange to red-brown in colour and curved into a twisted pod. It is called the ‘Apple-ring-thorn-tree’ because of the shape of the seed pods. The seeds are mostly eaten by Brown Playboy butterfly larvae. The pods are browsed as they are high in protein and carbohydrate.They are dried and ground into edible flour. The leaves are browsed by elephant, giraffe, kudu, nyala, impala and domestic animals. The seeds are boiled and eaten.The Ana tree can also be used medicinally as a decoction of the bark is used to treat diarrhea, bleeding and inflamed eyes.The roots are used as a love charm emetic and the leaves are eaten for abdominal disorders. This relatively drought-resistant tree makes an interesting specimen if planted in a park. It has aggressive roots, so plant it 7 meters from a building or a garden wall. It can survive occasional frost (up to 5 days per year). It is used as a thorny security barrier and it also good for containers. The bark strips are used as dental floss, medicine and fish poison. It attracts insect eating birds and butterflies. The wood is used for fuel. They are used in eroded areas to stabilize the soil. In India the wood is used to build temples and in ritual fires. The magical uses in South Africa are numerous. A sprig is placed over a bed to war off evil. It is used in money and love spells and the burned wood stimulates psychic powers. This is another of our protected trees in South Africa. named for Louis Leon Cesar Faidherbe (1818-1889) the French General and Governor of Senegal. He was decorated with the Grand Cross. In Egypt he studies monuments and inscriptions. He was a geographer and an archaeologist who wrote extensively.
