Celebrating Arbour month in Bathurst style
In isiXhosa, the month of September is Eyo Msintsi, so named after the coastal coral tree which typically blooms as spring bursts out at this time of year.
Bathurst sits at the heart of the Albany Thicket Biome and many of its roads are lined with these majestic coast coral trees. Thicket trees are tough, water wise, and beautiful. They are grown as features all over the world and many common garden plants originate in the Albany Thicket biome, including agapanthus, strelitzia, plumbago and spekboom.
The area is a hotspot for biodiversity and is part of the internationally recognised Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany hotspot for biodiversity, and the Albany Centre of Plant Endemism.
To celebrate Arbor month, the lucky draw trees at the Friends of Waters Meeting Nature Reserve this month were all coast coral trees, also known locally as lucky bean trees because children like to collect the bright red seeds and make bean bags out of them.
Coast coral tree, Umsintsi, Kuskoraalboom (Erythrinacaffra)
Why the name? The flower colour is generally an orangeyred and very occasionally salmon-cream in the coast coral tree.
How to identify? The tree is easiest to identify when covered in the characteristic orangey-red flowers. The leaves consist of three heart-shaped leaflets. The pale bark of the tree and branches is covered with small hooked thorns.
Where can you find one in Bathurst? DD location 33.51762, 26.81181 DMS
location S 33° 31’ 3.432” E 26° 48' 42.516''
Why have the tree in your garden? The nectar-rich flowers attract insects, including honey bees, as well as many birds, among them brilliant sunbirds. The buds and flowers also feed monkeys and other birds like
starlings. The soft wood of dead branches and trunks house barbet and woodpecker nests and sometimes swarms of honey bees. The leaves feed game and various caterpillars, and seeds host beetle larvae as well as feeding yet more birds.
What is it used for? Leaves, bark, roots and seeds of all Erythrina species are toxic. However, they are extensively used medicinally, mainly topically, in contexts that suggest anti-bacterial, antiinflammatory and analgesic effects.
This information is from a booklet compiled for the Rhodes Restoration Research Group. It showcases some of the indigenous trees that grow in and around Bathurst. The free epamphlet on thicket trees can be accessed athttps://sites.google.com/view/ rhodesrestorationresearchgroup/ home Together with a Google Earth version of the Treefinder Trail map of Bathurst.