Schotia afra var. angustifolia bark

The bark on Schotia afra var. angustifolia is fairly smooth where the stem is not gnarled. It is grey in colour, here with faint, longitudinal undulations. Some cracking and fissuring accumulate on big, old stems. Young branches may be red and hairless or sparsely hairy.

The hard wood used to serve as yokes when animal-drawn wagons were still common, nowadays mostly as fuel for cooking fires.

The tree is deservedly planted in parks and gardens. Although slow-growing it eventually responds well over time where summers are hot and winters cold (and somewhat wet). The red flowers and shapely pods add to the summer foliage as the trees best features (Mannheimer and Curtis, (Eds.), 2009; Coates Palgrave, 2002; iNaturalist).