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the web of life in southern Africa

Acacia xanthophloea (Fever tree)

Koorsboom [Afrikaans]; mooka-kwena [Northern Sotho]; umHlosinga [Zulu]; nkelenga [Tsonga]; munzhelenga [Venda]

Life > eukaryotes > Archaeoplastida > Chloroplastida > Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants) > Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants) > Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering plants) > Eudicotyledons > Fabales > Family: Fabaceae > Genus: Acacia

Acacia xanthophloea (Fever tree)

Acacia xanthophloea, Musicadzi River, Road 5A, Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique. [photo Bart Wursten ©, Flora of Mozambique]

Acacia xanthophloea (Fever tree)

Fever trees (Acacia xanthophloea), in winter in the Fever tree Forest along the Luvuvhu River near Pafuri in the northern Kruger National Park, Limpopo, South Africa. [photo Colin Paterson-Jones ©]

Acacia xanthophloea (Fever tree) Acacia xanthophloea (Fever tree)

Acacia xanthophloea (Fever tree) growing outside the Iziko SA Museum in Cape Town. [photo H.G. Robertson, Iziko ©]

Acacia xanthophloea, by Mazowe River, Hippo Pools, Zimbabwe. [photo Bart Wursten ©, Flora of Mozambique]

Acacia xanthophloea (Fever tree)

Acacia xanthophloea (Fever tree) growing outside the Iziko SA Museum in Cape Town. [photo H.G. Robertson, Iziko ©]

 

Indigenous distribution extends from Kenya to the northern regions of southern Africa. It grows mainly around water bodies and in low-lying areas with abundant underground water. It is also cultivated as an ornamental tree beyond its natural distribution. The most distinctive feature of this tree is the smooth, greeny-coloured bark. It is called the Fever tree because early travellers found that they experienced fever when in areas with this tree. The reason for this correlation is that Anopheles mosquitoes are vectors of Plasmodium that causes malaria, and breed in swampy areas where this tree is abundant.

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