To increase awareness of South Africaโs beautiful indigenous tree species, two trees are highlighted each year as Tree of the Year – one common and one rare species.
The Common Tree of 2020 is the stunning ๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ต or ๐๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐จ๐ช๐ข ๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ด and the Rare Tree of 2020 is the incredibly sculptural ๐๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฏ or ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ช๐ข ๐ฅ๐ช๐จ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ข.
Union High School has a beautiful Cape Ash growing in front of the schoolโs main building off Donkin Street.
The tree has a tag identifying it as such, which was affixed to it as part of an Eco-Schoolsโ project during Union High Schoolโs centenary celebrations, where all the indigenous trees on the schoolโs campus were labelled with tree tags.
The tag contains interesting information about the tree, including the national tree number, the botanical name as well as the English, Afrikaans and either isiXhosa or isiZulu name.
The Cape Ash is a magnificent tree, well-worth planting. An evergreen fruit-bearing tree, the Cape Ash can grow up to 15m high. Its trunk and stems are greyish black, with large, glossy green leaves often with pink edges. On occasion, the tree shows its beautiful white, scented flowers in summer along with seeded red fruit enjoyed by birds and small animals. Historically, the Cape Ash was used as a decorative street tree, offering good shade and some resistance to drought conditions.
๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐: The Cape ash belongs to the Mahogany family. It is the host plant for the fastest flying butterfly in Africa, namely the White-barred Emperor butterfly. ๐๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐จ๐ช๐ข ๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ด was named after Carl Gustov Ekeberg, a Swedish shipโs captain who worked for the Dutch East India Company.
“It is important that we recognise the role that trees play in our lives. Trees not only provide oxygen, fruit and nuts but also absorb carbon dioxide and beautify the environment and are an important link in the ecosystem. It is remarkable how a bland landscape can be immediately transformed into an inviting outdoor play area, and so many of us enjoy the beauty of leaves, shade and colour as seasons change. Learning how to preserve natureโs gifts and care for the environment is something we can all contribute to and enjoy by planting more trees and being mindful that bark stripping and littering prevents them from flourishing,” said Mrs Danelle Botes, facilitator of Union High Schoolโs Eco-Schoolsโ efforts.
“๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ๐บ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ.” – ๐ช๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น๐น ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐
Eco Representatives Tessa James, Kaitlin Kenmuir and Erin Gedult with Union’s magnificent Cape Ash.
