Spirostachys africana young leaves

Young tamboti leaves spiral or alternate up the young stems. They are glossy here and almost always hairless, the midribs pale against the dark green surfaces. Some lateral veins are visible, more clearly on the lower surfaces.

Only the youngest leaves are pale yellow-green, the yellow to return more strongly in their final stage, the tree being deciduous. The toothed margins are notably wavy on many of the leaves in the photo.

The young stems are smooth and reddish. Very different from old tamboti trunks with bark dark and cracked neatly into hard, regular rectangles (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Schmidt, et al, 2002).