Peltophorum africanum

Peltophorum africanum, the African-wattle or huilboom (weeping tree) in Afrikaans, grows a spreading crown to heights around 10 m (SA Tree List No. 215). This is the only species of the tropical Peltophorum genus occurring in South Africa.

The leaves of the deciduous tree are bipinnate and alternate. The soft foliage is dull green with rusty brown, velvety hairs on the leaf rachis and petiole. The leaves superficially resemble thorn tree foliage, but the trees are not armed with spines and the flowers are quite different.

The flowers appear in axillary sprays in spring and summer. The five petals are bright yellow and crinkled, about 2 cm in diameter. The fruit is a flat, elliptic, thin, winged and woody pod. These indehiscent pods hang in dense dark brown clusters, usually until winter.

The species distribution in South Africa is widespread but only in the far northeast of the country, the provinces north of the Vaal River or Transvaal and KwaZulu-Natal. The distribution across tropical Africa is much larger.

The habitat is wooded grassland, bushveld and places like riverbanks, vlei margins, rocky outcrops and termite mounds, often where the soil is sandy. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Schmidt, et al, 2002; Pooley, 1993; http://redlist.sanbi.org).