''Boscia albitrunca'', commonly known as the shepherd tree or shepherd's tree (, , , , , ), is a

protected species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, invasiv ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n tree in the caper family. It is known for having the deepest known root structure of any plant at: -. The species epithet "albitrunca" refers to the white trunk it oftentimes develops. Traditionally, the shepherd tree was used by Dutch settlers,

boers Boers ( ; ; ) are the descendants of the proto Afrikaans-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled the Dutch ...

, to create a variant of coffee from the roots of the tree. It is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

tree native to southern and tropical Africa, living in the hot, dry, and often seasonally

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

low-lying areas, sometimes on abundant lime or occasionally on rocky terrain. It is a common tree of the

Kalahari The Kalahari Desert is a large semiarid sandy savanna in Southern Africa covering including much of Botswana as well as parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African Namib coastal d ...

bushveld The Bushveld (from Afrikaans: ''bosveld'', Afrikaans: ''bos'' 'bush' and ) is a Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands, sub-tropical woodland ecoregion of Southern Africa. The ecoregion straddles the Tropic of Capricorn ...

and

lowveld Veld ( or , Afrikaans and Dutch: ''veld'', field), also spelled veldt, is a type of wide-open, rural landscape in Southern Africa. Particularly, it is a flat area covered in grass or low scrub, especially in the countries of South Africa, ...

. It is one of the most important animal forage trees in the Kalahari.

Description

This tree grows up to tall but is usually much smaller. It has a prominent, sturdy white trunk frequently with strips of rough, dark-coloured bark. The

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

is often browsed by

antelope The term antelope refers to numerous extant or recently extinct species of the ruminant artiodactyl family Bovidae that are indigenous to most of Africa, India, the Middle East, Central Asia, and a small area of Eastern Europe. Antelopes do ...

and any grazers capable of reaching the foliage, resulting in a conspicuous flattened underside, or browse-line. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are narrow, oblanceolate, and stiff, with veins obscure except for the distinct

midrib A primary vein, also known as the midrib, is the main vascular structure running through the center of a leaf. The primary vein is crucial for the leaf’s efficiency in photosynthesis and overall health, as it ensures the proper flow of material ...

. The

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s are small, greenish-yellow, lacking petals, starburst-shaped, and clustered. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s, on a jointed stalk, are about in diameter and are brittle-skinned with a whitish flesh and large

endocarp Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits. Fruitlike structures may develop directly from the seed itself rather th ...

. A specimen found in the central

in 1974 had

root In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often bel ...

s extending to deep, making it the plant with the deepest known roots thus far found.

Relationships

''Boscia'' belongs to the caper family,

Capparaceae The Capparaceae (or Capparidaceae), commonly known as the caper family, are a family of plants in the order Brassicales. As currently circumscribed, the family contains 15 genera and about 430 species. The largest genera are ''Capparis'' (about 1 ...

. ''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.

Gallery

Boscia albitrunca10.jpg, Specimen with a clear browse line,

Limpopo Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...

Boscia albitrunca, habitus, naby Marnitz, a.jpg, Specimen with its canopy infested with red-berry mistletoe, Limpopo Boscia albitrunca00.jpg, Flowering during late winter, Limpopo Boscia albitrunca07.jpg, Green fruit during spring,

Cape Glossy Starling (Lamprotornis nitens) eating a fruit of a Shepherd's Tree (Boscia albitrunca) (45181194105).jpg, Ripe fruit consumed by a cape starling, early summer, Kgalagadi

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q3643502 albitrunca Flora of Mozambique Flora of Zambia Protected trees of South Africa