Stats

Lifespan

Decades

Size

Small

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Tropical savanna

Range

Southern Africa

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Seeds

Defense

Toxins

Status

Rare

About

A small deciduous tree of southern African Kalahari sandveld, notable for its vivid scarlet-and-yellow autumn foliage — one of the most striking colour displays in the region. Its dry, leathery fruits are four-winged and papery, adapted to wind dispersal across the open savanna.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   seed

   A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2. 2.
   sprout

   A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3. 3.
   sapling

   A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4. 4.
   mature

   Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Magnoliopsida

Order

Myrtales

Family

Combretaceae

Genus

Terminalia

Species

Terminalia brachystemma