Rhigozum zambesiacum

Rhigozum zambesiacum, commonly the mopane rhigozum or scrambled-egg bush and in Afrikaans the mopaniegranaat (mopane pomegranate), is a rigid, spiny shrub or small tree that reaches heights from 4 m to 7 m (SA Tree List No. 676).

The bark is smooth and greyish brown forming longitudinal ridges. The short side-branches emerge at right angles opposite each other, rigid, squarish, arching up and covered in raised lenticels. Small, solitary spines, slightly longer than 1 cm, are present upon the younger branches, also spine-tipped.

The species distribution in the far northeast of South Africa is limited to small, border areas of Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Maputaland in KwaZulu-Natal; the major part of the distribution in neighbouring countries.

The habitat is hot, dry woodland or bushveld and thicket on granitic outcrops, slopes and brackish flats at lower altitudes, sometimes among mopane. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century.

This is a good gardening option in hot, dry, frost-free, summer rainfall regions. The plants are grown from seed (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Schmidt, et al, 2002; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997; Pooley, 1993; http://redlist.sanbi.org).