African Wildlife & Environment Issue 81

FAUNA, FLORA & WILDLIFE

Ripe Marula fruit ready for the picking

MARULA, the tree that gives so much

Sandy Roberts

At this time of the year one finds the roadsides scattered with butter-yellow marula fruit, easily available for all to forage. Their value is enormous to those who love the unforgettable fruity flavour and use the bark for its medicinal value. Both animals and man have had a fascination with the marula tree for centuries and it's easy to understand why.

Bark recipes One cup of broken-up pieces of bark is boiled in three liters of water for approximately three hours then left to cool, strained and bottled. It is used in small doses to treat diarrhea, dysentery, malaria, gonorrhea and internal ulcers. It has been also taken as an enema for abdominal upsets. The inner layer of bark is astringent and is used boiled and applied as a poultice for skin eruptions and smallpox. A hot poultice can be held against the cheek or placed as a wad in the mouth to draw out ulcers on the gum, but be aware that the bark is rich in tannin which is a natural sienna colourant.

The beautifully shaped marula tree Sclerocarya birrea is deciduous and grows in the warm, frost-free areas of South Africa in soil that is usually poor, sandy and shallow.The leaves are compound and grow between 5 -13 leaves per small branch which drop off during winter. The flowers are sweetly fragrant with little yellowy-green sprays that the bees love. Beautiful in all seasons and all stages of its growth, the marula grows wildly and prolifically.When young, the bark is smooth, pallid and notch free.When the tree is older the bark darkens and becomes rough with notches which is the perfect time to use medicinally.

26 | African Wildlife & Environment | Issue 81 (2022)