Speak My Language: Branching Out
‘Shade’ and ‘oxygen’ are usually the first two words that pop to mind when one mentions trees. However, the word ‘tree’ has much more meaning for some, such as the local Zulus of the KwaZulu-Natal region. For decades, the Zulus have used the local vegetation for practical, spiritual and even medicinal purposes.
Medicine, coffee, perfume, marriage and fever are not typically associated with trees, but those are just a few of the uses the trees provide for the locals.
The Transvaal Saffron’s bark is often used by the Zulu and Tsonga people for dyeing and tanning and also medicinally for stomach cramps, body pain, menstruation, acne and infections.
The Weeping Boer-bean with its bright red flowers and corpus nectar provided Boers in the early trekking days with a coffee substitute. They used the roasted beans inside the pods of the tree as an alternate caffeine boost.
The Tamboti tree offers a different use, providing locals with a pleasantly scented “dangerous” fragrance. The sandalwood-like scent is of dangerous origin, because the sawdust, smoke and sap of the tree are poisonous and can be deadly, and should therefore be handled with care.
Successful marriages are attributed to the infamous Marula tree which, according to the Zulu culture, represents fertility and is used as a cleansing ritual before marriage. In order to ensure the preferred sex of a married couple’s child, the pregnant woman drinks a concoction made from the bark of a male or female tree.
Previously less welcomed by the local Zulus, is the Fever tree, which was thought to be the reason many European adventurers and travellers who camped in Fever tree vicinities, died from high fever. Years later, it was revealed that their deaths were in fact caused by the malaria-carrying mosquito which also frequents Fever tree populated areas. Today, locals actually use the trees bark to reduce fever and for treating eye complaints.
These beliefs and cures held so dear by the locals are often slammed as outdated, mythical and unrealistic. However, if the properties of the vegetation prove true, imagine how much time and money they could save us? If true, it could offer free medicine, perfume, fertility treatment and even marriage counselling. Therefore one should perhaps admire the locals and their resourcefulness, and question whether we with our western-held beliefs are not possibly the ones in need of a revamp.
