Brachystegia Explained
Brachystegia is a genus of tree of the subfamily Detarioideae that is native to tropical Africa.
Trees of the genus are commonly known as miombo, and are dominant in the miombo woodlands of central and southern tropical Africa. The Zambezian region is the centre of diversity for the genus.[1]
Description
Hybridisation between the species occurs and taxa show considerable variation in leaflet size, shape and number, making identification difficult.
New leaves show a great range of red colours when immature, later turning to various shades of green.
Range and habitat
Brachystegia species range from coastal West Africa through Nigeria and Central Africa to the Northern Province of South Africa.
Habitats include seasonally dry forest, woodland, wooded grassland and bushland, and lowland tropical rain forest, often along rivers, the margins of wetlands, and on upland plateaus. Some species form monodominant stands.
18 species are native to Zambezian woodland. Six grow in Guineo–Congolian forest, with six in west-central Africa and 1 in West Africa. One species grows in the Zanzibar–Inhambane coastal forests of eastern Mozambique.
See also: Miombo and Miombo woodlands.
Species
32 species are currently accepted:
- Brachystegia allenii – Tanzania, DR Congo, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe
- Brachystegia angustistipulata – Tanzania and southern DR Congo
- Brachystegia appendiculata – Malawi
- Brachystegia astlei – Zambia
- Brachystegia bakeriana – southeastern Angola and Zambia
- Brachystegia bequaertii – southern DR Congo
- Brachystegia boehmii – Tanzania and DR Congo to Angola, Botswana, and Mozambique
- Brachystegia bournei – Zambia
- Brachystegia bussei – DR Congo and Tanzania to Zimbabwe and Mozambique
- Brachystegia cynometroides – Cameroon and southwestern Central African Republic
- Brachystegia eurycoma Nigeria, Cameroon, and Gabon
- Brachystegia floribunda – Tanzania and DR Congo to Angola, Zambia, and Mozambique
- Brachystegia glaberrima – Tanzania, DR Congo, and Zambia
- Brachystegia gossweileri – DR Congo, Angola, and Zambia
- Brachystegia kennedyi – southern Nigeria and Cameroon
- Brachystegia laurentii – Cameroon, Gabon, and DR Congo
- Brachystegia leonensis – Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Côte d'Ivoire
- Brachystegia letestui – southern DR Congo
- Brachystegia longifolia – Tanzania and DR Congo to Angola, Zambia, and Mozambique
- Brachystegia lujae – DR Congo
- Brachystegia manga – Tanzania and DR Congo to Angola, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique
- Brachystegia michelmorei – Zambia
- Brachystegia mildbraedii – Cameroon and Gabon
- Brachystegia nigerica – Nigeria
- Brachystegia oblonga – northeastern Mozambique
- Brachystegia puberula – Tanzania, DR Congo, Zambia, and Angola
- Brachystegia russelliae southern DR Congo, Angola, and Zambia
- Brachystegia spiciformis – southeastern Kenya and DR Congo to Angola and Northern Province of South Africa
- Brachystegia stipulata – Tanzania and DR Congo to Zambia and Mozambique
- Brachystegia tamarindoides – Tanzania and DR Congo to Angola, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique
- Brachystegia taxifolia Tanzania, DR Congo, Malawi, and Zambia
- Brachystegia utilis – Tanzania and DR Congo to Angola, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique
- Brachystegia × weltwitschii – Angola
Notes and References
- Emmanuel N. Chidumayo and Davison J. Gumbo, eds. (2010). The dry forests and woodlands of Africa: managing for products and services. Earthscan, 2010.
