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Brachystegia spiciformis
Fabaceae FAMILY

Brachystegia spiciformis

Brachystegia spiciformis

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
GrowthSlow

A plant of tropical and subtropical areas, where it can be grown at elevations ranging from 12 - 2,350 metres[1, 2]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 14 - 28°c, but can tolerate 10 - 35°c[2]. It can be killed by temperatures of 1°c or lower[3, 2]. Another report says that mature specimens can withstand several degrees of frost in their native environment[4]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 600 - 1,100mm, but tolerates 500 - 1,200mm[3, 2]. Prefers a sunny position[3]. Tolerates a wide range of soils, developing best on moist, deep, red soils and usually avoiding poorly drained and shallow soils[1, 2]. Prefers a pH in the range 5.5 - 7, tolerating 5 - 7.5[2]. Flowering and fruiting depend on the climatic conditions of a certain year and do not occur every year[1]. The flowers provide a good source of pollen and nectar, giving an excellent honey, which granulates very slowly[1]. After pollination, fruit development takes 7 - 8 months[1]. The seeds are ejected forcibly from the seedpod as it ripens, sometimes up to 10 metres from the pod[5]. Hybridizes readily with Brachystegia glaucescens and Brachystegia microphylla[1, 3]. There are conflicting reports on whether or not this species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, so it is unclear as to whether it fixes atmospheric nitrogen[6].

Propagation

Seed - best sown in situ because the seedlings are difficult to transplant[1]. To get good germination results, the seed coat should be nicked at the distal (cotyledon) end of the seed using a sharp tool like a scalpel, knife or a nail clipper. Under ideal conditions, seeds germinate within 21-30 days, with an expected germination rate of mature and healthy seed lots being about 80%[1]. Seed storage behaviour is orthodox. Viability can be maintained for several years in hermetic storage at 3c with 8-17% mc[1]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-19. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Brachystegia+spiciformis>

Pollinators

Bees

References

  1. [1]World Agroforesty Centre — http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ ↩︎An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc.
  2. [2]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  3. [3]Indigenous multipurpose trees of Tanzania. — Hines. D.A. & Eckman. K. · 1993 · ISBN 0-9697075-0-9 ↩︎A simple handbook with information on over 50 species of trees found in Tanzania giving details of environmental requirements, cultivation needs, uses etc. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  4. [4]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  5. [5]The Leguminosae; A Source Book of Characteristics, Uses and Nodulation — Allen O.N.; Allen E.K. · University of Wisconsin · 1981 · ISBN 0-333-32221-5 ↩︎An amazing and comprehensive work, giving a brief guide to the many genera of the family Fabaceae and also the principle uses of the genus.
  6. [6]Nodulation Plants in GRIN Taxonomy — United States Department of Agriculture · http://www.ars-grin.gov/~sbmljw/cgi-bin/taxnodul.pl?language=en ↩︎An online database listing plants that have either positive or negative reports on root and stem nodulation with nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
  7. [7]Useful Fiber Plants of the World — Dodge C.R. · USDA; Washington. · 1897 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ ↩︎A rather dated, but very comprehensive catalogue of fibre plants from around the world. The book can be downloaded from the Internet.
  8. [8]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
  9. [9]Flora Zambesiaca — http://apps.kew.org/efloras/fz/intro.html ↩︎An excellent online flora of plants from the Zambezi River basin. It lists a number of the plant uses as well as the habitats and botanical descriptions of the plants.
  10. [10]Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information — Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew · 1923 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎A botanical journal, it contains a rather dated but still useful treatment of the genus Brachystegia with quite a lot of information on plant uses. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  11. [11]Useful Plants of Nyasaland — Williamson J. · The Government Printer, Zomba, Nyasaland. · 1955 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎Brief details of the uses of almost 500 species of plants.
  12. [12]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  13. [13]Tropical Timbers of the World. Ag. Handbook No. 607. — Chudnoff. Martin. · USDA Forest Service. Wisconsin. · 1984 ↩︎Terse details on the properties of the wood of almost 400 species of trees from the Tropics.