Sand Forest plant checklist
The ‘Dendrological Group’ visited Bonamanzi on 20 June 2021. It had two previous visits (1996 and 2007). The Tree list (https://www.inaturalist.org/check_lists/4327274-Bonamanzi-tree-list) is a compilation of the trees recorded in all three visits.
Is the vegetation sand forest or sandy bushveld?
There were discussions whether the vegetation we looked at should be classed as sand forest or as sandy bushveld.
The locality is at the southern limit of sand forests. The trees grow on a palaeo-dune – which has deep red soils. Many plants typical of sand forest occur here – but some key ones are missing.
This is a young forest. The earliest air photos, from 1937, show that most of the area was grassland. The presence within the forest of trees such as Terminalia sericea, Hyphaene coriacea, Sclerocarya birrea are evidence of this. These as these are all savanna trees which would have been growing in situ when the forest expanded.
Whatever the classification – this is still a very interesting vegetation community.
