Page 14 - Dainfern Precinct Living 7 2021

NATURE

Overnight, Acacia karroo became ‘Bertie’ Mogg, with whom I travelled inch thick (25mm). He said it was wet
Vachellia karroo. Likewise, the umbrella on many local botanical surveys in the and “smelt like a drain”.
tree and the black thorn and the 1970s, telling me how the sweet thorn
knobthorn, along with all the rest of was rare along South Africa’s eastern The sweet thorn’s contribution to
the acacias can no longer be referred side, especially in eastern Natal, but human culture has been considerable.
to as acacias. that it was spreading. By the time Mogg Prof Revil Mason, Witwatersrand
died in 1980, it had reached the Indian University archaeologist, identified
Three dozen botanists, led by South Ocean and, in parts, was regarded as three Iron Age foundries in Lonehill,
African botanist Eugene Moll, claim a troublesome invasive species. Its and carbon dating found they were
the ruling goes against the normal spread was the result of injudicious veld at least 800 years old. For more than
rules of the system devised more than burning (sweet thorn saplings are pretty six centuries iron was extracted from
200 years ago by the Swedish scientist, much fireproof) and overgrazing, which iron-bearing pellets (ferricrete) that still
Carolus Linnaeus. The system, adhered changed the nature of so much of crunch underfoot – but the fuel for the
to worldwide, gives a scientific name to South Africa’s savannah, creating ideal furnaces? From where did that come?
all living organisms, alive and extinct. conditions for the tree. The surrounding Highveld is to all
The botanists (on our side) insist intents and purposes empty of
"the accepted rule is that the native trees, yet to forge a single
earliest published name has The presence of sweet thorn is an hoe blade or a spear would, said
precedence" and the first species indicator of sweet veld whose soils Mason, have needed charcoal
named ‘Acacia’ was an African are good for grazing as well as for from the trunks of two thorn trees
tree described in 1753. measuring 20cm in diameter at
crops. Hydrologists view its presence breast-height. It meant the original
Paradoxically, the spelling of the as an indication of ground water. landscape of the Highveld must
sweet thorn’s species name, have been well wooded – an open
which was, in error, spelt ‘karroo’ forest of spaced out acacias and
cannot be corrected to the proper A single acacia in the Namib Desert karee trees. So it can be said that thorn C
spelling, ‘karoo’ because of the can assume the importance of a trees fired our first step to becoming a M
system’s rules. geographical location and be marked manufacturing nation.
on maps; it might be the only tree Y
But, as Shakespeare put it, “A rose by seen during a day’s hike. It would Apart from its usefulness as fuel wood CM
any other name would smell just as have resulted from a seed dropped and for making charcoal, the sweet MY
sweet,” and Vachellia karroo remains by a passing bird just before a once- thorn was used to make fence posts and CY
just as sweet as ever. Its sweetness in-a-decade rain shower enabling it to ‘living fences’ by being grown as a thorny
comes from the thick sap that oozes survive long enough to send down an hedge. CMY
from wounds in its trunk – it has been exploratory root to seek water. Its lacy, K
used as a confection in Africa probably compound leaves would have captured The sweet thorn’s inner bark was used
for as long as humans have existed. It is the droplets from the nightly mists that to make rope, and proved essential for
still used today by confectioners. Many roll in from the Atlantic and, before the making barges to cross rivers and for
mammals, birds, reptiles and insects relentless sun emerged, the droplets wagon-making.
relish it including the giant kori bustard would have fallen like rain into the
whose name in Afrikaans is gompou, tree’s shade. During this time the tree’s For centuries, communities have viewed
meaning literally, ‘gum peacock’. bark will have lost its rich chestnut red a mature acacia – and many still do – as
colouring to become rough and grey. their local pharmacy. Its pods, leaves
Acacias, as botanists informally The bark, incidentally, has been used and roots are believed to be effective
continue to call the genus, are found for centuries for tanning leather. for making concoctions to relieve pain,
across the world including America. for the treatment of open wounds, to
There are more than 1 000 species in During a drilling operation in the dry relieve constipation, and as a remedy for
Australia and 300 elsewhere. west, Mogg recalled workers hitting a diarrhoea, colic, malaria, impotency, sore
sweet thorn’s tap root 120 feet throats, coughs, convulsions, abscesses
I recall the renowned botanist, Dr AOD (40 metres) down, measuring an and ulcers – and even osteomyelitis.

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