About Baikiaea plurijuga Harms
Baikiaea plurijuga Harms is a medium-sized deciduous tree that produces pinnate leaves, each bearing 4 to 5 pairs of opposite leaflets. Its flowers range in color from pink to deep mauve, have yellow stamens, and grow clustered in large axillary racemes; flowering occurs from November to April. Its fruit consists of flattened, woody pods with a hooked tip. These pods split open explosively to disperse their seeds over a distance. This tree species is restricted to growing on Kalahari sands, and the dominant woodland it forms is called Gusu woodland. This woodland develops on deep aeolian and fluvial Kalahari Sands, which contain almost no clay or silt. While these sands create excellent growing conditions for deep-rooting trees, the lack of clay limits tree growth to sites that hold nutrients within organic matter. Baikiaea plurijuga is found in southern Angola, northern Botswana, northern Namibia, southern Zambia, and northern Zimbabwe. The wood of Baikiaea plurijuga is a dense hardwood that is difficult to work with. Even so, it is valued for its natural resistance to termites and rot, and it is used to make railway sleepers, for construction, and for furniture making. Commercial timber operations have over-exploited large areas of Baikiaea plurijuga forest in parts of the species' range, for example in Sesheke District, Zambia. Despite this over-exploitation, Baikiaea plurijuga is not included in the CITES Appendices.
