Baobab
The baobab is found in the savannas of African and India, mostly around the equator. It can grow up to 25 meters tall and can live for several thousand years. The baobab is leafless for nine months of the year. If I were to describe the baobab, I would say that it looks like it has been picked out of the ground and stuffed back in upside-down. The trunk would be the tap-root, and the branches the finer capillary roots.
The Arabian legend of the baobab is that "the devil plucked up the baobab, thrust its branches into the earth and left its roots in the air". Another legend describes what happens if you are never satisfied with what you already have; "The baobab was among the first trees to appear on the land. Next came the slender, graceful palm tree. When the baobab saw the palm tree, it cried out that it wanted to be taller. Then the beautiful flame tree appeared with its red flower and the baobab was envious for flower blossoms. When the baobab saw the magnificent fig tree, it prayed for fruit as well. The gods became angry with the tree and pulled it up by its roots, then replanted it upside down to keep it quiet."
The baobab looks like this for a reason. In the wet months water is stored in its thick, corky, fire-resistant trunk for the nine dry months ahead. The baobab's bark, leaves, fruit, and trunk are all used. The bark of the baobab is used for cloth and rope, the leaves for condiments and medicines, while the fruit, called "monkey bread", is eaten. Sometimes people live inside of the huge trunks, and bush-babies live in the crown.
Bermuda Grass
Bermuda grass originally came from the savannas of Africa and is the common name for all the East African species of Cynodon. It grows in open areas where there are frequent disturbances such as grazing, flooding, and fire. Although most of these species have remained in Africa, today Cynodon dactylon is found in warm climates all over the world between 45° south and 45° north latitude. It can be found growing in pastures and the understories of open woodlands and orchards.
It is called bermuda grass in the United States because it was introduced from the Bermuda Island. Bermuda grass is a creeping grass, and will creeps along the ground and root where ever a node touches the ground, forming a dense mat. It also reproduces from roots under the ground. It has a deep root system, and in drought situations the root system can grow 47 to 59 inches (120-150 cm) deep. Most of the root mass lies 24 inches (60 cm) under the surface. Its blades are a gray-green color and are short, usually 1 to 4 inches (3-10 cm)long with rough edges. The erect stems can grow 0.3 to 1.3 feet (0.1-0.4 m) tall. The stems are slightly flattened, and an inflorescent purple in color. Bermuda grass reproduces through seeds and through runners and rhizomes. The seedheads are on 1-3 inch (3-7 cm) spikes and are themselves about 2 inches long. Bermuda grass will put out seeds about 3 months after planting. The seeds germinate at temperatures above 68° F (20° C), and begin to grow within 2 weeks. One plant can cover an area of 3 square yards (2.5 sqm.) in just 150 days after germinating. Bermuda grass can grow in poor soil. During droughts the upper parts die off, but the grass will keep growing from its rhizomes. It prefers moist and warm climates, and where there is more than 16 inches (410 mm) of rainfall a year. Bermuda grass is an early successional grass, and is first to grow back after grass fires, which burn quite often on the African savanna. To the Hindu in India, bermuda grass was a sacred grass because it fed their sacred cows. In ancient Roman days they squeezed the juice from the stems and used it as a diuretic and and astringent to stop bleeding.
Bermuda grass is considered a very invasive and competitive weed. Few herbicides are effective against it. Before mechanized farm machinery, bermuda grass was the farmer's worst weed. However, back then it saved thousands of acres of farm soil from erosion. It was the most widely grown pasture and turf grass in the South. Bermuda grass is highly nutritional for cattle and can be fed to sheep.
Manketti Tree
The African savanna is a lush area filed with life. There are many trees in this area, one of them, unknown by many, is the manketti tree. The Schinziophyton rautanenii (formally known as the Ricinodendron) is found in the African savanna. Its habitat is dotted with trees and does not receive enough rain to be considered a prairie. The countries that lie in this biome are Mauritania, Guinea, Liberia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Chad, Mali, Niger and Uganda. The savanna has two seasons, summer and winter. Temperatures average from about 68 to 86 degrees F (20 to 25 degrees C). The average precipitation ranges from 10 to 30 inches (100 to 150 cm) per year. It lies between 20° North to 34° South latitude and 15° to 35° East longitude. Most the of southern and eastern part of Africa is more than 3,000 feet above sea level while the western, northern and central parts are between 500 to 2,000 feet. The savanna has a long dry season and is filled with many grasses and scattered clumps of trees. Some common names for this tree are manketti tree, mongongo nut and featherweight tree.
The manketti tree prefers hot and dry climates with low amounts of rain. It also prefers to grow in wooded hills and sand dunes. The manketti tree has a large, straight trunk with stubby and contorted branches and a large spreading crown. It has an upright manner of growth and is about 49 to 66 feet (15 to 20) meters tall. The leaves are a distinctive hand shape and are compound. The leaflet is a wide lance to an egg shape. They are composed of seven leaflets that are carried on hairy stalks that are up to 6 inches (15 cm) in length. The leaves are about 6 inches (15 cm) long and both sides are dark green in color. They are covered in fine hairs and are arranged alternately on branches. The flowers are somewhat oval in shape, and are about 1 1/4 inch (3.5 cm) long, 3/4 inch (2.5 cm) wide, and are about 1/2 inch (10 mm) in diameter. They flower in early summer. The whitish flowers are carried in slender loose spays. The taproot on the manketti tree goes down until it reaches water. In this case, it is long because it is located in the savanna. The lateral root is very small. The manketti tree is deciduous. It has made many adaptations to its environment including a trunk that can store water, a long taproot to reach water, thick bark to resist annual fires and leaves that drop off in the winter to conserve water.
The manketti tree is distributed widely throughout the southern savanna (South Africa etc.). It is considered a rapid growing tree and has been designated a protected tree in Namibia since 1952, probably because of its socioeconomic importance. Also, the nuts and fruit are very popular and are part of the African daily diet. The nuts also give oil and are considered one of the most important nuts in Africa. The fruit is about 1 1/4 inches (35 mm) long and 1 inch (25 mm) wide. The fruit ripens on the ground and the color turns from the original yellow to reddish brown with ripening. This tree is important to African life and will hopefully continue to prosper in the wild.
Whistling Thorn
The whistling thorn is an acacia tree commonly seen on the savannas of equatorial East Africa, particularly the Serengeti plain. This acacia can grow about 18 feet tall, but is often stunted in its growth. The whistling thorn acacia protects itself with pairs of long thorns up to 3 inches long. Interspersed with these are modified thorns, called stipular spines, which are joined at the base by hollow bulbous swellings about 1 inch in diameter. These are home to four different kinds of stinging ants who pierce these swollen thorns with tiny holes. When the wind blows it turns old and abandoned spines into tiny whistling flutes, which gives the tree its name.
It isn't clear yet whether the relationship with ants is a symbiotic or parasitic one. This particular acacia doesn't have the toxic chemicals that ward off insects and browsers like other species of acacias do. The stinging ants protect the tree by swarming out of their nests and attacking an intruder at the smallest movement. Giraffes and other browsers are thought to be able to detect the pheromones the ants give off, and leave the tree alone.
However, some ant species, like Crematogaster nigriceps, will prune the branches and flowers of their whistling thorn so that enemy ant colonies on other trees can't get to their tree. This pruning stimulates the acacia to produce a sugary secretion at the ends of their leaflets which feeds the ants. Unfortunately, it also kills the tree's growth tips and effectively sterilizes it so it can't propagate itself.
It is believed that the ants have developed the habit of living in trees because the soil of the savanna turns spongy in the rainy season and dries out and cracks in the dry season. This makes it very difficult for ant to build nests under ground. The whistling thorn acacia, like other acacias, has developed several ways to survive the severely hot and dry climate in which it lives. Because of the heat the tree must find ways to conserve moisture. Their leaves have evolved into many tiny leaflets (pinnae) which can turn to absorb sunlight, or avoid it and reduce transpiration. The many leaflets are also beneficial when animals graze on them. Some will be left behind to continue the vital task of photosynthesis.
During the dry season on the savanna, the whistling thorn acacia will drop its leaves to conserve water. At the beginning of the rainy season fragrant creamy-white flowers bloom before the leaves grow back. The flowers look like little puffballs and resemble those of the cultivated mimosa tree, which are in the same family. Long seed pods develop, whose seeds are very nutritious and a favorite of many animals, including humans.
Elephant Grass
Elephant grass is a tall grass that originally came from Africa in 1913. It grows in dense clumps of up to 10 feet tall. In the savannas of Africa it grows along lake beds and rivers where the soil is rich. Local farmers cut the grass for their animals, carrying it home in huge piles on their backs or on carts. Yellowish or purple in color,the stems are coarse and hairy, and about 1 inch thick near the base. The leaves are 2 to 3 feet long, pointed at the ends, and about 1 inch wide. The edges of the leaves are razor-sharp. This makes stands of elephant grass nearly impenetrable. Many bird species make their home in the stands. The dense seed heads of elephant grass are about 9 inch tufted plumes, usually a tawny or purple color. Elephant grass does reproduce sexually, but the seeds are very small and don't germinate well. The grass reproduces mainly through its rhizomes (root-like underground stems that produce roots below and sends up shoots to the surface). Elephant grass can be very invasive and clogs the natural waterways of Florida which have to be cleared periodically. It likes tropical weather and can be killed by a light frost. The underground parts will stay alive if the soil doesn't freeze.