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10 plants worth knowing

Angola

Angola stretches from the humid forests of Cabinda and the north, across a vast central plateau covered in open miombo woodland, to the dry mopane savannas of the south and the Namib Desert on the coast of Namibe Province, cooled by the Benguela Current. High-lying headwaters on the plateau feed the Congo, Zambezi and Okavango rivers, and the contrast between the humid north and the dry south gives Angola one of the most varied floras in Africa.

Hover over a plant to see on the map where it grows.

where it grows

plants in our catalogue; native and endemic according to WCVP (Kew) · source
  1. Welwitschia 1

    shrub

    native

    Welwitschia

    Welwitschia mirabilis

    A living fossil of the Namib Desert – a plant with just two leaves that can live for over a thousand years. It was discovered in Angola.
  2. African baobab 2

    tree · Unofficial symbol of Angola

    native

    African baobab

    Adansonia digitata

    Angolans consider the imbondeiro their own tree – baobabs surround Luanda and feature in songs, poems and paintings.
  3. Robusta coffee 3

    crop · Coffee leaves on the national emblem of Angola

    native

    Robusta coffee

    Coffea canephora

    In the 1970s Angola was the world’s fourth-largest coffee producer – a coffee sprig still adorns the national emblem.
  4. Msasa 4

    tree

    native

    Msasa

    Brachystegia spiciformis

    The main tree of the miombo woodlands, which every year before the rainy season puts out new leaves in shades of red and copper.
  5. Mopane 5

    tree

    native

    Mopane

    Colophospermum mopane

    A tree with butterfly-wing leaves that forms the dry woodlands of southern Angola and feeds the famous mopane worms.
  6. Cassava 6

    crop

    cultivated

    Cassava

    Manihot esculenta

    Cassava flour is cooked into funje – a thick porridge that accompanies almost every meal in Angola.
  7. African oil palm 7

    palm

    native

    African oil palm

    Elaeis guineensis

    Oil from the fruit of this palm gives its orange colour to muamba de galinha – a dish regarded as Angola’s national dish.
  8. Maize 8

    crop · Maize leaves on the national emblem of Angola

    introduced or naturalised

    Maize

    Zea mays

    Maize is the main cereal of Angola’s central plateau – its flour makes funje de milho, and its leaves appear on the national emblem.
  9. Upland cotton 9

    crop · Cotton leaves on the national emblem of Angola

    cultivated

    Upland cotton

    Gossypium hirsutum

    Forced cotton growing sparked the 1961 uprising in Baixa de Cassanje – the start of Angola’s struggle for independence.
  10. Mukwa 10

    tree

    native

    Mukwa

    Pterocarpus angolensis

    Mukwa, whose Latin name refers to Angola, “bleeds” red sap when cut, and its wood is among the most valuable in Africa.