Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Fabales > Fabaceae > Colophospermum > Colophospermum mopane

Colophospermum mopane (Butterfly Tree; Turpentine Tree; balsam tree; Mopane; Mupane; Mupani)

Synonyms: Copaiba mopane (homotypic); Copaifera mopane (homotypic); Hardwickia mopane (homotypic)

Wikipedia Abstract

Colophospermum mopane, commonly called mopane, mophane, 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 (660 to 3,770 ft) 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.
View Wikipedia Record: Colophospermum mopane

Attributes

Janka Hardness [2]  2940 lbf (1334 kgf) Very Hard
Leaf Type [1]  Deciduous
Specific Gravity [3]  0.904
Structure [1]  Tree

Protected Areas

Name IUCN Category Area acres Location Species Website Climate Land Use
Kruger National Park II 4718115 Mpumalanga, South Africa

Predators

External References

USDA Plant Profile

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Kattge, J. et al. (2011b) TRY - a global database of plant traits Global Change Biology 17:2905-2935
♦ 2Wood Janka Hardness Scale/Chart J W Morlan's Unique Wood Gifts
♦ 3Chave J, Coomes D, Jansen S, Lewis SL, Swenson NG, Zanne AE (2009) Towards a worldwide wood economics spectrum. Ecology Letters 12: 351-366. Zanne AE, Lopez-Gonzalez G, Coomes DA, Ilic J, Jansen S, Lewis SL, Miller RB, Swenson NG, Wiemann MC, Chave J (2009) Data from: Towards a worldwide wood economics spectrum. Dryad Digital Repository.
♦ 4Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
♦ 5Ben-Dov, Y., Miller, D.R. & Gibson, G.A.P. ScaleNet 4 November 2009
♦ 6The diet of kudus in a mopane dominated area, South Africa, J. F. Hooimeijer, F. A. Jansen, W. F. De Boer, D. Wessels, C. Van der Waal, C. B. De Jong, N. D. Otto, L. Knoop, Koedoe Vol 48, No 2, pp. 93-102 (2005)
♦ 7Xerus princeps, Jane M. Waterman and Matthew D. Herron, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 751, pp. 1–3 (2004)
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0