Mopane

Mopane’s butterfly-shaped leaves feed madora caterpillars – one of Zimbabwe’s best-known delicacies.

Mopane is a tree or shrub of the legume family, usually growing to 10–15 m, recognisable by its leaves of two leaflets that look like butterfly wings. In the heat the leaflets fold together to reduce water loss, so the tree casts little shade. It grows on hot, dry lowlands, often on heavy soils, where it forms extensive, almost single-species woodland. Its hard, heavy wood resists termites and is used for fencing and firewood, and the leaves are important fodder for elephants and cattle.

Significance in the country

In Zimbabwe’s mopane woodlands feed the caterpillars of Gonimbrasia belina, which are collected and dried as madora (in Shona) or amacimbi (in Ndebele) – a cheap, protein-rich delicacy sold at markets all over the country. Mopane woodland also dominates Hwange National Park.

Where it grows

The hot lowlands: the Zambezi valley and Hwange (Matabeleland North), the southern lowveld (Matabeleland South, Masvingo) and the lowlands of the Save and Runde valleys.

According to the World Checklist of Vascular Plants (Kew), the species is native to this country. Source and licence

More: Wikipedia (en) Wikipedia (pl) Plants of the World Online (Kew)