THIS week I would like to mention the beautiful Commiphora harveyi which makes an excellent garden tree, not known for its flowers especially, but rather for its amazing trunk.
The common name is ‘copper-stem or red-stem corkwood’ which says its all about this beautiful tree with its flakes of soft, coppery paper-like bark peeling off to reveal a smooth, silky green trunk.
The tree can grow to about four to five metres in the sun and taller if it gets shade.
The Afrikaans name is ‘koperstamkanniedood’, not because you cannot kill it, but because it has the determination to survive.
The Zulu name is ‘iminyela or umbumbungane’ and the Xhosa name is ‘umhlunguthi’.
Commiphora harveyi can be grown easily from a truncheon (branch) taken from a mature tree which you can then plant directly into the space you have chosen. It also serves as an ideal bonsai specimen.
One of my colleagues planted a forked piece upside down and it grew, making a stunning show in his garden.
Leaves and flowers
I fell in love with this tree when one of my lecturers took us to visit a beautiful specimen of this tree perched on a rocky outcrop in the grounds of UKZN.
It was love at first sight and I now have two in my front garden.
The tree is not evergreen. It has a compound leaf comprising two to three pairs of soft, slightly pointed leaflets that cast a lovely dappled shade during the summer months, which then turn a glorious yellow before they fall to the ground in autumn, revealing this magnificent trunk through winter.
This tree is dioecious which means that there are male and female flowers on separate trees. I must confess that I have never seen the bunches of small yellow flowers other than in a photograph, but they are not the attraction of this tree.
Commiphora harveyi is distributed from the Eastern Cape right up to Limpopo and does well in a variety of conditions. I would recommend that you plant it in as much sun as possible to see this tree in all of its splendour.
A further two factors that recommend this tree is that it enjoys arid conditions, hence no need to waste water on it and, secondly, the birds and monkeys love the fruit. It is an ecologically important tree in the wild as the bark and roots also provide an excellent source of food and moisture to wildlife- and humans. So if you are out on a run and feel a little dehydrated, pop into my garden and chew a bit of branch.
Attention local nurseries – if you have stock of the plant we mention each week, please pop me an email on info@schoolofgardendesign.com so that I can pass your details onto the public).
Contact the Hillcrest Conservancy chairman, George Victor, on 073 901 3902, e-mail georgevic@telkomsa.net or the website www.hillcrestconservancy.co.za or contact Lindsay Gray at info@schoolofgardendesign.com
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