TREE LIFE 526
JUNE 2024

FUTURE EVENTS
PLANNED EVENTS:- JUNE

Since inclement weather or other issues may vary our plans, WhatsApp Tony Alegria on 0772 438 697 to join our WhatsApp group for last minute updates.

Saturday 1^st June 2024:- visit to the National Botanical Gardens.  Meet at 8.30 in the main car park and join us for an interesting morning looking at trees that catch our interest.
Sunday 16^th June 2024:-  a return visit to 25 Wavell Road, the garden of Rhett Butler. In this extensive garden we expect to see some interesting indigenous trees and plants.  Meet at 9.30 by turning into Montgomery Rd from Rhodesville Avenue.  After about 400 m, Montgomery bends abruptly to the right and at that point take a very sharp right turn into Wavell Road. Proceed along Wavell Road for about 250 m. The gate to number 25 is on your left.

REPORTS FROM PREVIOUS OUTINGS

MAIN OUTING – SUNDAY 28^th APRIL 2024: AGM AND FUN DAY

By Rob Kelly, photos by Jim Dryburgh

All who did not manage to attend this day missed out on a really fun time.  Tony mentioned that the AGM would only take a short time and he was correct. But even the AGM was light-hearted – I guess Tony has a difficult time being anything other than amusing!

Some of us ended up a little lost on the road to Val d’Or but we all managed to find our way there eventually and were welcomed by a good cup of tea/coffee, delicious eats and a bunch of happy and enthusiastic naturalists.  The average age of participants must have been in the region of 70+ but this made little difference to the palpable enthusiasm.

The AGM was peppered with interruptions from the peanut gallery but, otherwise, went off smoothly under the ‘strict’ eagle eye of our chairman, Tony Alegria. (Chairman’s Report and Minutes at the end of this issue).

Thereafter followed an exciting event before lunch – a scavenger hunt for as many plant species, both indigenous and exotic, as each team could find in the garden from a list provided (with points taken off for any incorrect identifications!). Predictably, the winning team called ‘Re-Mark-Able’ comprising Pam Alegria, Rob Jarvis, Busi Malunga, Ian Riddell, Mark Hyde and Peter Dean were the winners.

The braai masters and aprentices

After all the exercise of wandering around the garden searching for specimens, lunch was welcomed with gusto. Tony oversaw the braai with Skip as head braai master, ably assisted by Kim and Ryan. Pam Alegria could not resist making sure the men were doing it right – she definitely wanted to be sure that the gravy and garlic bread she had made was accompanied by superbly cooked meat – she was not disappointed!! The meal went down very well, followed by delicious fridge cake, also made by Pam.

The quiz was filled with ‘nerve-racking’ hilarity with our quizmaster, Bill Clarke, being constantly interrupted (for good reason) although he was never at a loss for crafty retorts.  One or two trick questions kept the teams on their toes.  Winners of the quiz was the ‘Green Leader’ team with 90.5% correct answers – Liz Ade, Kim McDonald, Ryan Truscott, Tony Alegria, Sheila Jarvis and Jim Dryburgh.  The other 3 teams all tied for second place with over 80%.  Team ‘Cinderella’ was Mary Toet, Dawn Siemers, Jan van Bel, Fiona Lawrence and Marina Mason. Team ‘Red’ was Skip Mackay, Stef McDonald, Jenny Mackay, Sarah Roberts and Barbara Dean. Team ‘Monkey Orange’ was Teig Howson, John Lawrence, Linda Hyde, Ann Sinclair and Rob Kelly.

Choosing a raffle prize

Another feature of the day was the complementary raffle with tickets issued by the dip of the hand into a “hat” and the prizes donated.

As a finale, we tried our best to consume the remaining goodies that everyone had brought before we departed. It had been a good day.  Thanks so much to Bill and Fiona.

Two issues still need to be mentioned. Firstly, the most novel ablution facilities we have seen. ‘Gents” followed arrows in one direction into the garden and ‘Ladies’ in the opposite.  I never did see what the Ladies had to contend with, but the Gents was a cleared area in the garden discreetly hidden by some large boulders and bushes and provided with a bowl of water, some soap and a towel—a most hygienic arrangement.

The second was the opportunity for those present to purchase a number of books and other literature which had belonged to Meg Coates-Palgrave.  There were some interesting items.

NATIONAL BOTANICAL GARDEN OUTING SATURDAY 4^th MAY 2024

By Linda Hyde & Tony Alegria

Berchemia discolor
photo by Rob Burrett from Flora of
Zimbabwe website

This was a typical May morning with bright warm sunshine, blue skies, green trees and yellowing grasses. Tony Alegria proposed that we make our way towards the small ridge between the car park and the main herbarium to find out what trees needed labelling.  So we headed northwards towards this area.

At the first tree we stopped at, Tony invited us all to look carefully at the leaves.  We noted leaves were opposite decussate (successive pairs at right angles to the previous pair), with a fairly long petiole, veins raised on the pale undersurface but not producing milk.  These were some of the signs which help identify  Schrebera trichoclada or wooden pear.  Next door to this was Berchemia discolor or bird plum  also with opposite leaves.

Pterocarpus lucens
with occasional yellow leaf

Around the corner we found a tree with the occasional yellow leaf.  Here Tony made one of his favourite requests:
                                     “Pick a leaf”
Looking through our collections, his first comment was “You picked a branch!”, then “That’s a leaflet” followed by “Why did you pick that”.  My uninformed answer was “I could see a stipule and they grow at the base of a leaf”.

Pterocarpus lucens –
seed pods

Tony’s point was that there are different types of leaf (in particular simple and compound), however, this led to a long discussion and I learnt that stipules can also protect the bud as it grows.  Wikipedia also tells me that stipules MAY fall off after the leaf unfolds, and be used as climbing tendrils by climbing plants while spiny stipules help protect the plant from animals.  All very confusing but I also learnt that the swelling at the base of the leaf is called the pulvinus and changes in rigidity leads to movements of the leaf orientating it towards the sun.  This tree we eventually found out was Pterocarpus lucens and its final surprise was the seed pods which looked very like the leaves in disguise.

Before reaching the ridge, we passed Grewia flavescens with its 4 angled stem which Busi knows as Umbhunzu (an Ndebele name) and the Feretia aeruginescens or pink medlar with its pink veins, furry leaf and sessile fruit.

However at this point I had to leave the group but my thanks to Charles Crawshaw, Dido de Swaart, Jim Dryburgh, Mark Hyde, Busi Malunga, Dawn Siemers, Ann Sinclair, Ryan Truscott and Tony for giving me a fun morning with lots of botany.

Linda Hyde
and
TONY CONTINUES:…

On a bright sunny day, Ann Sinclair, Dawn Siemers, Dido de Swardt and Linda Hyde joined Busi Malunga, Charles Crawshaw, Jim Dryburgh, Mark Hyde and myself to see if we could find new trees to label on a rocky ridge. The first tree that caught our eye when we reached the ridge was the Feretia aeruginescens. Pink- medlar because the main vein on the leaf is pink near the petiole. The marble-sized fruit is sessile, and birds do not appear to eat them although I have been told that some Africans do.

Next to the Feretias were two rather large fluted stems that belonged to the Grewia flavescens. Donkeyberry which have four-angled branches, symmetrical toothed rough leaves and yellow flowers.

Climbing the ridge a bit, there were two very tall Albizias and unfortunately, none had coppiced or grown young below.  Leaves couldn’t be reached but there were some that had dropped and dried up – some leaflets more curled than others. The leaflets looked fairly symmetrical with a round top and bottom which reminded me of the Albizia zimmermannii. Woodland long-pod albizia. So we took some of the dry leaves to compare with the one large, wide-spreading Albizia zimmermannii nearby.

En route we looked at a Brachystegia allenii. Escarpment Brachystegia and also a couple of Guibourtias. We then compared the dry leaves with the Albizia zimmermannii and found we had a match! So now we know that there are more than one of these trees in the Garden!

After that it was already time to go home, on the way to the car-park we briefly looked at: a Vepris zambesiaca. Rare white-ironwood which has a velvety trifoliate leaflet with a winged petiole; Xanthocercis zambesiaca. Nyala-tree with some green fruit; Tamarindus indica in fruit which we sampled and looked at a female Citharexylum spinosum. Lady Chancellor or fiddle-wood in fruit – that’s quite a rare site as the majority of these trees are male.

Tony Alegria

MAIN OUTING – SUNDAY 18^TH MAY 2024:

Photos by Jim Dryburgh

This outing was destined to be to the arboretum at Lake Chivero, but once again very few (older) members arrived at the meeting point so it was decided to cancel this and instead have a quick review of the arboretum at Prince Edward.  The following photos are from Jim.

Aboretum-plaque

Tree from the other side of the wall

Tree and plaque

White pointsettia

White ipomoea

AGM: CHAIRMAN’S REPORT APRIL 2024

Tony Alegria presenting his report

Welcome to the 74^th Annual General Meeting of the Tree Society of Zimbabwe. I have pleasure in presenting my ninth annual Chairman’s report covering the year 1st April 2023 to 31st March 2024.

Tree Outings: Besides meeting at the National Botanical Garden every month, we had quite a busy year with outings to:  Larmenier; Prince Edward School; Bridgeways Complex: Umwinsidale; 131 Enterprise Road and 12A Gilmore Drive. Many thanks to the residents of these properties for hosting us.

Tree Leaders:  We are still short of leaders and we would really like a few more. You don’t have to know everything as whoever is participating can “chip in” and make the outings even more special!

Weekend Trips:  We had two weekend trips in the last year, many thanks to Frances Morris for organizing them. The first trip was to the Mapfungautsi Plateau, over the weekend of 15^th to 18^th April.  We went to look at the unique flora that thrive on deep Kalahari sand. We stayed at Pumba Safaris in Gokwe as it was fairly close to the forests managed by the Forestry Commission. There were two memorable things about this trip:

1. Was it an Acacia luederitzii? Turned out to be an Acacia sieberiana with variable thorns and curved fat pods!
2. Ladies drinking bombers straight from the bottle as the glasses were a bit smudgy. That’s quite correct – beers in big bottles.

The resulting reports of that botanising weekend trip appeared in Tree Life 513, 514, 515 and 516.

The second trip was in early November to Kanyemba from Thursday 2^nd to Monday 6^th with 21 members and 2 guides taking part. This trip included a boat ride (booze cruise??) on the Zambezi River. You can read all about the long botanizing weekend trip in the resulting reports to be found in Tree Life 520, 521 and 522.

Tree Life: Unfortunately, Rob Jarvis stepped down as vice-chairman and left the committee during the year and also resigned as editor of Tree Life.  In the past I have appealed for more members to come forward and learn to become editors so we can have more depth in the Society but no one came forward. Now you can see the need to have more editors.  Very fortunately for us, I managed to twist someone’s arm sufficiently and now Linda Hyde is our new editor and has been doing a great job. She also has the ability to persuade people to write articles which is a big plus.

Thanks to those who contributed write-ups during the last year for Tree Life – in order of appearance:  Lorraine & Vic Gifford, Tony Alegria, Ian Riddell, Rob Jarvis, Di Charsley, Mark Hyde,  Jan van Bel, Mary Toet, Mary Lovemore, Karl van Laeren, John Lawrence, Frances Morris, Peter Morris, Zia Thomas and Andrea Bianchi. In Tree Life 520, we had a one-line contribution from Meg under the heading: “A FINAL WORD FROM MEG COATES PALGRAVE”:  I really enjoyed the chance to be part of this expedition with the intense interest in botany and the stimulating people to talk to.” Apologies to anyone I missed out.  A big thank you to Jim Dryburgh, we use many of your photos in our monthly newsletters, so keep them coming!

Articles for Tree Life: To keep Tree Life going, we need articles. Reports on outings are just not enough  – we need more! I believe that all of us are quite capable of writing a tree story.  So, support your society – there must be millions of tree-related funny or serious stories out there! And don’t worry about the English – it can always be fixed!

Finances: The financial position of the Society remains satisfactory. The accounts and balance sheet will be presented by Bill Clarke. Bill looked at the society’s needs and set the annual subscriptions to what they are now.

Tree Society Facebook group: Since last year the group membership has been increasing steadily – we now have about 5900 members. Mark Hyde looks after our Facebook page.

Tree Society Website:  In the last year, my computer became too slow for me to do any work on the website. I was hit pretty badly by COVID in early December and then Pam and I moved in January to a retirement home where we are still “Moving in”.  I now have a new computer and am able to get into the website after Mark managed to get me a new password. During that time, Mark only managed to add a couple of editions of Tree Life to the website.  Very fortunately for us, Linda was persuaded to do something for the website and with the aid of Mark’s notes has added some more and is catching up fast.

Herbarium fumigation: We pay for this vital service and the National Herbarium was fumigated just once last year. We are trying to get it done again as soon as possible.  Now done!

Tree Labelling:  Tree labelling has continued in the National Botanical Garden where we now have over 450 trees identified. A new National Botanical Garden 450 tree pamphlet will be emailed to all our members as soon as all the paperwork has been completed.

We also began more labelling in the Mukuvisi Woodlands but gave that a rest when we had a serious pepper tick issue last year. However, we have recently returned to look for two trees that Meg had spotted over 40 years ago. Mark had spotted one of them whilst orchid hunting with Werner Fibeck. We have since located the other and an extra one.  The special tree is: Tarchonanthus camphoratus. Camphor-bush.

We had “Sleeping Member” in Meg Coates Palgrave, who behind the scenes, with Mark, identified specimens collected by him. Now Meg is “Sleeping” under one of the special trees.

Socials: We now combine the social with the AGM which has improved attendance. The last AGM/Social, was again hosted by Rob Jarvis at his new home on Art Farm. He once again provided lunch with a potjie and sides. Besides the regular scavenger hunt and fun quiz, we again had a bingo session to give away prizes. Many thanks Rob.

However, last year we held another Social at the Ewanrigg Gardens to give something back to our members. There, we had a scavenger hunt and a Bill Clark fun quiz which are a lot of fun – we’ll be having one today, many thanks Bill.  I thank Linda Hyde and Ryan who along with his daughter Cassy braaied all the meat. I also thank everyone else who helped making this a most enjoyable day.

Membership: As at the end of March 2024, we had 107 members, comprising 85 local members, 14 external and 8 honorary members. This is about the same as last year.

Committee: Unfortunately, Rob resigned as Vice-chairman last year along with being editor leaving a committee position which was never filled. The current committee now consists of the following six people: Ann Sinclair, Bill Clarke, Teig Howson, Ryan Truscott, Jan van Bel and myself. We are all available for re-election today.

In conclusion …  We have had another very busy and interesting year!

Thank you.

Tony Alegria
Chairman

AGM: MINUTES OF THE 74th AGM
OF THE TREE SOCIAL SOCIETY OF ZIMBABWE
held on 28th April 2024 at Val d’Or, Ruwa.

1. PRESENT: The Committee members: Tony Alegria (Chairman), Bill Clarke (Hon. Treasurer), Ann Sinclair ( Venue Organiser ), Jan van Bel ( Projects Manager ), Ryan Truscott,  Teig Howson (Secretary). Members present: Pam Alegria, Fiona Clarke, Mark and Linda Hyde, Rob and Sheila Jarvis, Dawn Siemers, Marina Mason, Mary Toet, Peter and Barbara Dean, John Lawrence, Busi Malunga, Ian Riddell, Skip and Jenny Mackay, Rob Kelly, Liz Ade, Jim Dryburgh, Sarah Roberts, new members Kim and Stef McDonald.   Tony welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked Bill and Fiona Clarke for very kindly offering to hold it at Val d’Or.
2. NOTICE CONVENING THE MEETING which had been sent out in Tree Life was read by the Chairman.
3. APOLOGIES had been received from: Dean Berry, Andrew Brown, Anne Butler, Kevin Butler, Zia Beaton, Bruce Cowley, Dido de Swardt, Carolyn Dennison, Ken Dixon, Di Drummond, Marco and Lucina Faccio, Kevin and Iona Fallon, Kerry-Ann Goddard, Beth Goodwin, Bridget Holland, Pat Kingsland, Don and Carrie Lapham, Mary Lovemore, Shaun Lightfoot, Frances and Peter Morris, Alex and Caroline Morris-Eyton, Tom Muller, M.J. E.S. , Simon Pitt, Lorraine Regadas and Vic Gifford, Tanya and Brendon Scott, Cathy Sharp, Alison Stangroom, Debbie Swales, Michael Swan, Jules Thomas, Harry Tselentis, Tempe van de Ruit and Stuart Wood.The Chairman said the Tree Society had lost 3 members during the year:  Meg Coates Palgrave, Clare Cullinan and Helen Nel.  He requested members to observe silence for 1 minute in respect of these members.Bill read out a eulogy of Meg’s active and productive career. Mark said he had been contacted by a person in South Africa requesting that the article on Meg’s life history be circulated amongst many groups in South Africa.  Mark had obtained permission from Meg’s son Tony to do this.  He said he had brought a lot of Meg’s books here and members were urged to select what they wanted and donations for these would go to Blue Kerry Flower Foundation Retirement Home.  Dawn Siemers suggested that the article be forwarded to the “Rhodesia Worldwide “group whose members would appreciate the contents.

4. MINUTES OF THE 73^RD AGM had been circulated by e-mail and would be taken as read.
5. MATTERS ARISING from the minutes. There were none.
6. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT: The Chairman read out his report for the year and said it would be included in the next Tree Life.  He concluded by saying it had been another very busy and interesting year.
7. TREE LIFE: Rob Jarvis had resigned as Vice-Chairman and also as editor of Tree Life and Linda Hyde has taken over the task of Editor and is doing a great job.  Tony requested that members contribute articles, either long or short, and thanked everyone who had
   submitted articles.
8. FINANCIAL REPORT: Tony said the finances were in a satisfactory position.  Bill delivered the Financial Report and circulated copies of the Income and Expenditure account and the Balance Sheet for the year ended 31st March 2024.  Bill had changed the ZWL into US $154.  He said that it was okay to use the funds for catering at social functions for the benefit of the members. Ann Sinclair proposed a vote of thanks to Bill for his efficient work.  Subs would remain at $5 per family per year.
9. FACEBOOK: now has 5,900 members and is managed by Mark Hyde.
10. WEBSITE: Tony said he had been too busy moving house and he needed a new computer so he was 10 months behind schedule.   Fortunately, both Mark and Linda have been catching up by adding editions of Tree Life to the Website.
11. FUMIGATION: The Herbarium had been fumigated once last year and has just been done recently.  This is funded largely from subscriptions to  the Tree Society.
12. LABELLING: Tony said he, Mark and Jan have now labelled more than trees in the National Botanical Garden. A new pamphlet of 450 tree list is being worked on right now and will be emailed to all the members once completed. Mark, Jan and Tony had been in Mukuvisi searching for the wild camphor which had been lost twice and found 3 trees.  Recently Mark had gone with Meg’s family members to bury her ashes under one of these trees.

13. SOCIAL: A social was held at Ewanrigg Rigg National Park in September where a Scavenger hunt followed by a braai lunch was held, ending with a Quiz. It was a very successful and enjoyable day.
14. RAFFLE: Prizes for the winners of the Scavenger Hunt and Quiz would be Lyn Mullin’s books on Trees of Zimbabwe, Meg’s tree book and a few bottles of booze. Bill gave a pen and Lunch bar to everyone for participating in the scavenger hunt or quiz.

15. MEMBERSHIP: was now at 107 comprised of 85 local, 14 external and 8 Honorary members.
16. ELECTION OF OFFICERS: The current committee was prepared to remain in office and was voted en bloc, approval of the vote was proposed by Dawn Siemers and seconded by Marina Mason.  Tony asked for nominations for a Vice-Chairman and Mark Hyde was proposed and he accepted the appointment.   Busi Malunga would be a Committee member.
17. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
    Tony thanked everyone for bringing eats for tea and lunch, and to Bill and Fiona for hosting.
    Dawn Siemers proposed a vote of thanks to the Chairman and was seconded by Marina Mason and received with acclaim.
    Peter Dean said he was very impressed with Tony’s contribution and effort he put into the Tree Society.
    Tony suggested members could have walks along streets to identify trees to write articles for Tree Life.
    Sarah Roberts said Ballantyne Park had got a renewed 10-year lease and welcomed donations to keep the Park running well.
    Mark pointed out that the 4th Sunday clashes with the Aloe Society’s meetings and should be avoided by the Tree Society.

There being no further matters the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 11.15 a.m.

OTHER NEWS AND SHORT NOTES

I am delighted with all the articles that have been sent through to me and hope to include them all in the next few issues.

Many thanks for these and please keep them coming.

Linda

TREE SOCIETY COMMITTEE AND CONTACTS

Chairman                             Tony  Alegria                tonyalegria47@gmail.com       0772 438 697
Vice Chairman                   Mark Hyde                     mahyde@gmail.com                 0772 233 751
Honorary Treasurer         Bill Clarke                     wrc@mweb.co.zw                      0772 252 720
Secretary                               Teig  Howson               teig.howson@gmail.com          0772 256 364
Venue Organiser                Ann Sinclair                 jimandannsincs@zol.co.zw      0772 433 125
Committee Member          Jan van Bel                   jan_vanbel@yahoo.com           0772 440 287
Committee Member          Ryan Truscott              ryan.kerr.truscott@gmail.co   0772 354 144
Committee Member          Sibusiso Malunga       busimalunga@yahoo.com        0775 889 898

Tree Life Editor                   Linda Hyde        Lmharwin@pentact.co.zw        0772 232 075
Tree Society Website          https://www.treesociety.org.zw/
Tree Society Facebook       https://www.facebook.com/groups/ztreesociety/
Flora of Zimbabwe:             https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/
Flora of Tropical Africa:    https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOTA