The City of Ekurhuleni participates in National Arbour Month programmes every year.
Arbour Month is commemorated in September and celebrates indigenous trees.
Community participation is at the centre of these commemorations, mainly through activities such as planting memorial trees and observing celebration of the chosen tree of the year.
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This year’s tree of the year is the Ekebergia Capensis or Cape Ash tree.
The Cape Ash is an evergreen tree which can grow up to 15m in height and grows in a number of different habitats, mostly found in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
It is an attractive shade tree with glossy leaves.
In favourable conditions the tree flower is visible every year but in other localities they may only flower once every few years.
The main stem of the Cape Ash is characterised by a rough light grey to almost black bark, with few buttress roots at the base.
The tree tends to produce sweetly scented small white flowers borne at the tips of the branches.
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According to the city’s environmental officer Alugumi Makushu, the best way to plant any tree, including the Cape-Ash tree, is to create enough insulation and sufficient watering for quick results.
Furthermore, the Cape Ash has a number of traditional medicinal uses such as treating headaches, heartburn, chronic coughs and intestinal worms.
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