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Schotia afra var. angustifolia (Karoo Boerboon) - This is a small tree, often with multiple branches, growing to 15-25 feet tall and spreading wider than tall. It has dark green, small narrow leaflets and clusters of red flowers in late spring and early summer. These flowers produce a copious amount of nectar, which attracts birds and are followed by large rounded green seed pods that age to black.
Plant in full sun in a well-drained dry soil and water occasionally though, once established it can thrive with no supplemental irrigation and little care. It is hardy to 20-25° F. This attractive small tree is noted as not being messy and its roots not invasive or destructive.
Schotia afra var. angustifolia which comes from inland areas of Namaqualand and Namibia. In these locales its typical habitat is along seasonal dry riverbeds. The name for the genus honors Richard van der Schot, the chief gardener of the Imperial Garden at Schönbrun Austria, the specific epithet comes from the Latin words 'afri' and 'afer' that referenced the people of Africa and was used to indicate the natural distribution of this plant in Africa. The subspecific epithet 'angustifolia' meanings narrow leaves and this is fitting as the many leaflets (up to 18 pairs) are as thin as 5/32 of an inch (4 mm). The seed of this plant is what gave this and other indigenous South African plants with edible seeds the name Boerboon, which was later translated to Boer Bean.
We grew this plant from 2006 until 2014 from seed collected in Franceschi Park in Santa Barbara, CA. Dr. Francescho Franceschi (AKA Emanuele Orazio Fenzi) was credited with the introduction of Schotia afra into cultivation in the U.S., though we are not sure whether he introduced the coastal variety afra or this more inland growing variety angustifolia.
The information displayed on this page about Schotia afra var. angustifolia is based on our research conducted about this plant from books in our nursery library as well as from information that is provided by reliable online resources. We also have included our own observations made about it as it grew in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers when we had them in our nursery field. We also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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