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Boscia albitrunca
Also called Coffee Tree, Shepherd's Tree, Emigrant's Tree, Shepherd Tree, Shepherds Tree, White Stem, White Stemmed Tree
Boscia albitrunca, commonly known as the shepherd tree or shepherd's tree (Afrikaans: witgat, Sotho: Mohlôpi, Tswana: Motlôpi, Venda: Muvhombwe, Xhosa: Umgqomogqomo, Zulu: Umvithi), is a protected species of South African tree in the caper family. It is known for having the deepest known root structure of any plant at: -68 metres (223 ft).
The species epithet "albitrunca" refers to the white trunk it oftentimes develops. Traditionally, the shepherd tree was used by Dutch settlers, boers, to create a variant of coffee from the roots of the tree. It is an evergreen tree native to southern and tropical Africa, living in the hot, dry, and often seasonally brackish low-lying areas, sometimes on abundant lime or occasionally on rocky terrain. It is a common tree of the Kalahari, bushveld and lowveld. It is one of the most important animal forage trees in the Kalahari.
Shepherd's Tree · Boscia arabica · Smelly Shepherd's Tree · Broad Leaved Boscia · Boscia salicifolia · Senegal boscia · Shepherd Trees
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Boscia albitrunca by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
