Brachystegia
Brachystegia is a genus of tree of the subfamily Detarioideae that is native to tropical Africa.
Trees of the genus are commonly known as miombo, and are dominant in the miombo woodlands of central and southern tropical Africa. The Zambezian region is the centre of diversity for the genus.
Description
Hybridisation between the species occurs and taxa show considerable variation in leaflet size, shape and number, making identification difficult.
New leaves show a great range of red colours when immature, later turning to various shades of green.
Range and habitat
Brachystegia species range from coastal West Africa through Nigeria and Central Africa to the Northern Province of South Africa.
Habitats include seasonally dry forest, woodland, wooded grassland and bushland, and lowland tropical rain forest, often along rivers, the margins of wetlands, and on upland plateaus. Some species form monodominant stands.
18 species are native to Zambezian woodland. Six grow in Guineo–Congolian forest, with six in west-central Africa and 1 in West Africa. One species grows in the Zanzibar–Inhambane coastal forests of eastern Mozambique.
Species
32 species are currently accepted:Brachystegia allenii – Tanzania, DR Congo, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, ZimbabweBrachystegia angustistipulata – Tanzania and southern DR CongoBrachystegia appendiculata – MalawiBrachystegia astlei – ZambiaBrachystegia bakeriana – southeastern Angola and ZambiaBrachystegia bequaertii – southern DR CongoBrachystegia boehmii – Tanzania and DR Congo to Angola, Botswana, and MozambiqueBrachystegia bournei – ZambiaBrachystegia bussei – DR Congo and Tanzania to Zimbabwe and MozambiqueBrachystegia cynometroides – Cameroon and southwestern Central African RepublicBrachystegia eurycoma Nigeria, Cameroon, and GabonBrachystegia floribunda – Tanzania and DR Congo to Angola, Zambia, and MozambiqueBrachystegia glaberrima – Tanzania, DR Congo, and ZambiaBrachystegia gossweileri – DR Congo, Angola, and ZambiaBrachystegia kennedyi – southern Nigeria and CameroonBrachystegia laurentii – Cameroon, Gabon, and DR CongoBrachystegia leonensis – Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Côte d'IvoireBrachystegia letestui – southern DR CongoBrachystegia longifolia – Tanzania and DR Congo to Angola, Zambia, and MozambiqueBrachystegia lujae – DR CongoBrachystegia manga – Tanzania and DR Congo to Angola, Zimbabwe, and MozambiqueBrachystegia michelmorei – ZambiaBrachystegia mildbraedii – Cameroon and GabonBrachystegia nigerica – NigeriaBrachystegia oblonga – northeastern MozambiqueBrachystegia puberula – Tanzania, DR Congo, Zambia, and AngolaBrachystegia russelliae southern DR Congo, Angola, and ZambiaBrachystegia spiciformis – southeastern Kenya and DR Congo to Angola and Northern Province of South AfricaBrachystegia stipulata – Tanzania and DR Congo to Zambia and MozambiqueBrachystegia tamarindoides – Tanzania and DR Congo to Angola, Zimbabwe, and MozambiqueBrachystegia taxifolia Tanzania, DR Congo, Malawi, and ZambiaBrachystegia utilis – Tanzania and DR Congo to Angola, Zimbabwe, and MozambiqueBrachystegia × weltwitschii – Angola