Colophospermum mopane, commonly called mopane, mopani, balsam tree, butterfly tree, or turpentine tree, is a tree in the legume family (Fabaceae), that grows in hot, dry, low-lying areas, 200 to 1,150 metres in elevation, in the far northern parts of Southern Africa. The tree only occurs in Africa and is the only species in genus Colophospermum. Its distinctive butterfly-shaped (bifoliate) leaf and thin seed pod make it easy to identify. In terms of human use it is, together with camel thorn and leadwood, one of the three regionally important firewood trees.
Image: Colophospermum mopane arbre MHNT, crop
Image: Colophospermum mopane 00
The two papilionaceous leaflets are mirror images of one another, and are borne on a common petiole.
A large multi-stemmed tree with sociable weaver nests, and a shrub browsed on by goats, both in Namibia
Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the north, and Mozambique to the east. The capital and largest city is Harare, and the second largest is Bulawayo.
Towers of Great Zimbabwe
The Battle of the Shangani on 25 October 1893
Ian Smith signing the Unilateral Declaration of Independence on 11 November 1965 with his cabinet in audience
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe attending the Independence Day celebrations in South Sudan in July 2011.
