| Shepherd tree | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Brassicales |
| Family: | Capparaceae |
| Genus: | Boscia |
| Species: | B. albitrunca
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| Binomial name | |
| Boscia albitrunca | |
Boscia albitrunca, commonly known as the shepherd tree or shepherd's tree (Afrikaans: Witgat, Sotho: Mohlôpi, Tswana: Motlôpi, Venda: Muvhombwe, Xhosa: Umgqomogqomo, Zulu: Umvithi), is a protected species of South African tree in the caper family.[1] It is known for having the deepest known root structure of any plant at 68 metres (223 ft).[2]
The species epithet "albitrunca" refers to the white trunk it oftentimes develops. Traditionally, the shepherd tree was used by Dutch settlers, boers, to create a variant of coffee from the roots of the tree.[3] It is an evergreen tree native to southern and tropical Africa, living in the hot, dry, and often seasonally brackish low-lying areas, sometimes on abundant lime or occasionally on rocky terrain. It is a common tree of the Kalahari, bushveld and lowveld. It is one of the most important animal forage trees in the Kalahari.[4]
YouTube Encyclopedic
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Amazing Plant Roots
Transcription
Hey guys! In this week's episode of Brilliant Botany, I'm going to tell you about some of the record-breaking and mindblowing root systems you can find in the plant world. Roots serve a lot of purposes for plants. They hold them in place, collect water and take in nutrients. Generally speaking, there are two types of root systems: taproots and fibrous root systems. Taproots are thicker and deep reaching roots. The fibrous root system is made up of thinner roots that grow closer to the soil surface. Water is one the most important things a plant needs, and it's the roots' job to find it. Because of this, plants in dry climates, or areas where water is hard to get, will have the longest roots. American Beach Grass, a coastal North American plant, is recorded as having roots as deep as 40 feet. This allows them to reach the water table, since the sand they grow in doesn't hold water. That, however, is nothing compared to some of the record-breaking roots out there. Boscia albitrunca, or Shepherd's Tree, is an African plant with recorded root depths of 68 meters. That's almost 225 feet. The tree itself is typically under 10 meters tall, but needs all of those roots to find water in its dry habitat. Roots, of course, also give a plant stability. In my Five Botany Facts video I mentioned coastal redwoods, which are found on the Northwestern coast of the US and can grow as tall as 350 feet or more. You'd think a mammoth plant like that would need a deep tap root to hold them up, but these monsters of the plant world only have fibrous root systems, That's right, these trees that can have a volume of up to 42,000 cubic feet are held up by a dense layer of thin roots that sit sclose to the soil surface. For this reason, redwoods rely heavily on their neighbors, because their root systems interlock and hold up the stand of trees as a whole. There are also some specialized root systems out there, like the aerial roots in mangrove trees. Mangroves grow in subtidal areas in the tropics, meaning that they have to survive being partially submerged in brackish or salt water when the tide is high. These roots grow out of the trunk above ground and bring in oxygen that the submerged roots can't access. Those are just a few of the amazing roots you can find out in the plant world. There are lots of specialized root systems out there, and roots are more important than we often give them credit for. Many plants can grow back from just a root system, including coastal redwoods. If you know of any really cool root systems, please tell me about them in the comments! Thank you for watching! Last week I talked about why I became a scientist, and if there's something you'd like me to talk about next week, let me know in the comments. For daily posts about plant science you can check out www.brilliantbotany.com. I'll see you all next time.
Description
This tree grows up to 10 m (33 ft) tall but is usually much smaller. It has a prominent, sturdy white trunk frequently with strips of rough, dark-coloured bark. The crown is often browsed by antelope and any grazers capable of reaching the foliage, resulting in a conspicuous flattened underside, or browse-line. The leaves are narrow, oblanceolate, and stiff, with veins obscure except for the distinct midrib. The flowers are small, greenish-yellow, lacking petals, starburst-shaped, and clustered. The fruits, on a jointed stalk, are about 10 mm (0.4 in) in diameter and are brittle-skinned with a whitish flesh and large endocarp. A specimen found in the central Kalahari in 1974 had roots extending to 68 m (223 ft) deep, making it the plant with the deepest known roots thus far found.[2]
Relationships
Boscia belongs to the caper family, Capparaceae. Boscia albitrunca is closely related to Boscia foetida subsp. rehmanniana, the bushveld shepherd's tree, which has much smaller leaves and velvet-textured skin on its fruits. The genus was named for Louis Bosc (1759–1828), a French professor of agriculture who lived through the French Revolution.[citation needed]
Gallery
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Specimen with a clear browse line, Limpopo -
Specimen with its canopy infested with red-berry mistletoe, Limpopo -
Flowering during late winter, Limpopo -
Green fruit during spring, Kalahari -
Ripe fruit consumed by a cape starling, early summer, Kgalagadi
References
- ^ "Protected Trees" (PDF). Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, Republic of South Africa. 3 May 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-07-05.
- ^ a b Canadell, J.; R. B. Jackson; J. B. Ehleringer; H. A. Mooney; O. E. Sala; E.-D. Schulze (18 July 1996). "Maximum rooting depth of vegetation types at the global scale". Oecologia. 108 (4): 583–595. doi:10.1007/BF00329030. PMID 28307789. S2CID 2092130.
- ^ "Boscia albitrunca | PlantZAfrica". pza.sanbi.org. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
- ^ Havenga, C. J.; van Niekerk, W. A.; Rethman, N. F. G.; Coertze, R. J. (2004). "Certain qualitative characteristics of Boscia foetida at different sites in South Africa" (PDF). South African Journal of Animal Science (34): 62–64. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
- "Boscia albitrunca". PlantZAfrica.com. Retrieved 2010-03-04.
External links
- Dressler, S.; Schmidt, M. & Zizka, G. (2014). "Boscia albitrunca". African plants – a Photo Guide. Frankfurt/Main: Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg.
This page was last edited on 27 August 2023, at 16:34