Serengeti plant life

Serengeti plant life

Serengeti plant life

Serengeti plant life: The Serengeti National Park is home to a diverse range of inhabitants, including vast expanses of plains, woodlands, and riverine forests. These habitats are home to several types of trees and grasses that can be observed while on a Tanzanian or Serengeti safari.

This article lists the different kinds of trees, grasses, and exotic plants found in the Serengeti National Park.

The Serengeti National Park’s tree species

The boundless grasslands of Serengeti National Park are home to a variety of tree species that are scattered across the park. These trees include

African Sausage Tree (Kigelia)

Large trees that are only sporadically found on the endless plains of Serengeti National Park are known as sausage trees, or Kigelia Africana. Typically, these trees are located along the banks of dry rivers. The fruits of the sausage trees are delicious and remarkably long (about 50 cm), but they are poisonous. The fruit stalks are commonly mistaken for a leopard’s tail and are easily observable on the Serengeti plains, particularly in the months after the fruit’s drop. These fruits fall from the tree and release seeds when the pulp rots.

Trees of figs (Fiscus sp.)

There are many different varieties of fig trees in the Serengeti National Park. These trees are easily recognized by their huge, buttressed, interlaced roots, saucer-sized dark green leaves, and unique grey, smooth bark.

In Serengeti National Park, fig trees are typically seen growing in the rocky clefts of Kopjes as well as along the wet riverbanks.

The Phoenix reclinata, or wild date palm

Crazy date Phoenix reclinata, often known as the palm, belongs to the monocotyledon family of palms, which means that the veins in their leaves are parallel and unbranched. As a result, they are related to orchids, lilies, bananas, and grasses.

The most prevalent palm trees in Serengeti National Park are wild date palms, which grow along rivers and in wetlands. Although their fruits are not very tasty, they can be eaten.

These trees shade the sleeping lions and are easily spotted on a game drive in the Serengeti. The sugary sap from these trees is used to manufacture palm wine.

Commiphora (Africana Commiphora)

Though commonly found across the Serengeti, Commiphora, also called as Commiphora Africana, is particularly prevalent in the eastern portion of the park. These trees are easily distinguished from Vachellia by their small, rounded leaves and peeling, papery blue/yellowish bark.

The most prevalent species of Commiphora is Commiphora African myrrh.

This tree’s roots, bark, and berries are used locally to make medications that treat stomachaches, liver issues, and rashes.

The Vachellia xanthophloea, or yellow fever tree

The yellow fever tree is a tall, striking tree with wide-spreading branches, a huge white thorn, and yellow bark that makes it difficult to overlook. Yellow fever trees are typically seen in Serengeti National Park in damp locations near rivers, swamps, and flood plains.

The yellow fever tree got its start when early settlers in the plains realized that malaria was more widespread in areas with standing water. However, they blamed the yellow trees growing nearby for the fevers instead of insects.

Vachellia tortilis, the umbrella tree.

The amazing African trees known as umbrella trees, or Vachellia tortlis, are well-known for their distinctive shape that breaks up the plains’ level terrain. This tree, which has a distinctive flat top, dark bark, and noticeable white thorns, forms a spectacular arch across the plains within Serengeti National Park.

These trees provide seedlings that giraffes and elephants prefer, but the seedlings cannot withstand bush fires. In Serengeti National Park, umbrella trees are roughly 125–45 years old.

Vanessa Whistling Thorn (Drepanolobium)

Blowing a whistle Vachellia Drepanolobium, commonly known as thorn trees, are strange-looking trees with hard, hollow spheres full with biting ants at the base of their thorns. This tree attracts ants by offering them food and refuge in the form of extrafloral nectarines, which are unique structures that resemble flowers, in exchange for their protection.

The whistling noises produced by the ant entrance holes into their hollow galls are the source of the term “whistling thorn trees.” These short trees proliferate when the soil gets periodically drenched with water.

Grasses

The following are some of the many species of grasses found in Serengeti National Park:

Themeda triandra, or red oat grass

Themeda triandra, often known as red oat grass, is one of the predominant grass species in the woods and long-grass plains of Serengeti National Park. As it dries, it turns a bright pinkish-red tint.

These grasses can grow so thickly in the plains of Serengeti National Park that, with their flat, fan-like seeds flowing in the wind, it resembles a field of wheat. The wildebeests feed on these grasses, but they only eat them when they have run out of more appetizing ones.

Digitaltaria macroblephora, or finger grass

The most prevalent grass in Serengeti National Park is finger grass, which grazers enjoy. This grass’s seed heads resemble slender fingers reaching upward toward the sky, as the name would imply.

Sporobolus ioclados, or pandropseed

One of the two predominant species on the short grass plains is pandropseed; both are sporobolus species, and because they grow in a dwarf form, it is challenging to tell them apart.

Unlike other grasses in Serengeti National Park, pandropseed has a seed head shaped like a Christmas tree, with the seeds hanging below fronds like tiny ornaments.

Species of invasive plants

When non-native plant species proliferate and displace the park’s native vegetation, they pose a threat to the Serengeti National Park. A few of the alien plant species found in the park are Mexican Marigold, a weed that spreads quickly and makes regions unusable for farming while competing with local plants and commodities. It was brought to the region with shipments of wheat seed.

In Serengeti National Park, more invasive plant species include

Opuntia sp., or prickly pear
Oil for Custard (Rhoicissus sp.)



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