The Marula Tree

The Marula Tree- The Great Provider

The Marula is a handsome, spreading tree of wooded savannah, and belongs to the mango (Anacardiaceae) family. It favours sandy soils in the warmer, eastern parts of the continent, where it may grow up to 15 metres in height.

Few African trees are held in such high esteem by indigenous peoples, for the Marula has a multitude of uses in terms of diet and culture. The abundant crop of fruit - high in vitamin C - is the source of jelly and jam as well as the basis for a potent liquor. This has been commercialised in recent times as 'Amarula Cream' - one of South Africa's most successful exports.

Jam, jelly, beer and wine

In late summer (February and March) each year, the female trees produce pale green fruits - oval in shape and about 35mm in diameter. These fruits fall and ripen on the ground, turning a waxy yellow colour and taking on a distinctive sharp, sweet scent.

People collect large quantities of ripe fruits, with different cultural groups having a variety of uses for them. Making jam and alcohol seems to be common to virtually all people living alongside these trees. The jam is made in the traditional manner, while beer or wine is produced by soaking fruit in water in an airtight container for two days, then squeezing out the juice of the softened fruits, and closing the pot or bucket for a further four days. The sour drink is said - by some - to have 'the kick of a mule'! It takes about 200 fruits to make a single litre of alcohol.

Due to its well-known alcoholic capacities, rumours abound as to the Marula's intoxicating effects on wild animals. While elephants and baboons both relish the fruit, the former would need to consume prodigious amounts of already fermenting fruit for it to have even the mildest impact, and since these huge animals drink up to 160 litres of water a day, there would anyway be a major diluting effect. Interestingly, examination of fresh elephant dung show that less than ten percent of Marula fruits are actually 'processed' in any way - most fruit passes through the digestive tract intact.

Observations on baboons suggest that they prefer fresh Marula fruit and because the pulp is digested and the seeds passed within a 24-hour period, fermentation is impossible. The infamous scene in a popular movie from the 1970s - Jamie Uys' 'Beautiful People', which depicted a troop of obviously drunken baboons in and under a Marula tree, was clearly man-induced and would today be outlawed in terms of animal cruelty.

In addition to the flesh of the fruit - a single tree can produce over 10 000 - the oil-rich seeds or 'nuts' are also sought after by people and a variety of animals. The Zulu crush and boil the seeds, skim off the oil and use it as a therapeutic body massage and the Venda people are said to use the oil to preserve meat. The seeds are difficult to extract from the stone-like kernel, but the Cape Parrot is able to do so with its strong beak.

Boy or girl?

Although various herbivores, including elephant and giraffe, browse on Marula leaves, it is not the most popular foliage. In some years, the larvae of a nondescript moth may infest individual trees, feeding voraciously on the leaves, and inhibiting the development of flowers and fruit.

Elephants are fanatical about the grey bark of Marulas and - when they occur at high densities - can eliminate entire communities of these valuable trees through destructive ring-barking.

In a bid to influence the sex of an unborn child, the Venda believe that a preparation of powdered bark from a female tree will produce a baby girl, while that of a male tree is taken should a boy be desired. Determining its sex is easy when the Marula loses its leaves in winter, exposing its stubby, finger-like branch tips.

Due to its many uses and value, the Marula tree is usually spared by woodcutters in most rural areas. When one sees Marula trees being cut down, it is a clear indication that a community is under pressure.

Where to see Marula trees at CCAfrica lodges

Marulas are among the dominant trees at Phinda, Ngala and Londolozi in South Africa, where leopards frequently cache kills in their branches or recline on their shady boughs. Some fine examples also occur at Bongani, also in South Africa, but the most gigantic specimens are to be found on the well-watered sands of the Okavango Delta in Botswana, where the Sandibe and Nxabega camps are set. In the Madikwe Safari Lodge Game Reserve in South Africa Marula trees are endangered due to bark stripping by elephant.

Further reading
Coates-Palgrave, K. 1977. Trees of Southern Africa.
Struik, Cape Town.
Fox, F.W. & Norwood-Young, M.E. 1982. Food From the Veld.
Delta Books, Johannesburg.
Mathonsi, S. 1999. "The Myth of Intoxication by Marula Fruit in the Diet of the African Elephant". Ecological Journal 1:56.
CCAfrica, Benmore.

Posted: Plants by CC Africa, Date: 21 November 2006