Combretum apiculatum subsp. apiculatum stuck in granite

This Combretum apiculatum subsp. apiculatum trunk has grown large in spite of being squashed in a granite crevice. The specimen was seen in the bushveld of the Djuma Game Reserve in Sabi Sand. The roots have found their way along the cracks (and widening them) to good quantities of open soil nearby, where sufficient moisture and nutrients allowed the robust expansion.

The base of the stem and beginnings of the root system wedged so tightly here, show sharply contrasting colour variations achieved from the many years of asserting its presence. One day, when the tree is gone and the rock properly broken, there will be space for several plants to grow where the pioneer had struggled so hard (Carr, 1988; Coates Palgrave, 2002).