Vegetation
The vegetation or flora type is generally uniform in Zimbabwe. Bushveld or thorny acacia savanna and miombo or dry open woodland dominate the central and western plateau. In the south and southeast, which are dry lowlands, thorny scrub and baobabs are extensive. Cactus-like euphorbias (similar to pipe organs), 30 species of aloes, wildflowers, profusion of jacarandas, and succulent tropical flowers and palms are some of the plant species commonly seen in the country.
The dominant woody species noted in the Northwest Matebeleland, the Sebungwe region, in the Zambezi River Valley and in Gonarezhou National Park are: C. mopane, B. plurijuga, Guibourtia coleosperma, Pterocarpus angolensis and Acacia species, Julbernadia globiflora, Brachystegia boehmii, Erythrophleum africanum, P. angolensis, B. africana, Kirkia acuminata, Adansonia digitata, Screrocarya birrea, B. massaiensis, D. condylocarpon, T. sericea and Combretum species. Brachystegia allenii, J. globiflora, C. apiculatum, Terminali stuhlmannii, and Acacia tortlis, Grewia spp., Terminalia prunioides, S. birrea, Commiphora spp., A. nigrescence, A. digitata, and T. sericea.
- Flora
Some of the floral; species of Zimbabwe are: Conyza sumatrensis, Hesperantha coccinea (River Lily) and Strychnos spinosa. Flame lily (Gloriosa genus). It grows profusely throughout the country and hence is designated as the national flower of Zimbabwe. It is a climbing lily which reaches heights of 8 ft and has bright red and yellow petals.
Read more about this topic: Wildlife Of Zimbabwe
Famous quotes containing the word vegetation:
“We love to see any redness in the vegetation of the temperate zone. It is the color of colors. This plant speaks to our blood.... What a perfect maturity it arrives at! It is the emblem of a successful life concluded by a death not premature, which is an ornament to Nature. What if we were to mature as perfectly, root and branch, glowing in the midst of our decay, like the poke!”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“When the ground was partially bare of snow, and a few warm days had dried its surface somewhat, it was pleasant to compare the first tender signs of the infant year just peeping forth with the stately beauty of the withered vegetation which had withstood the winter ... decent weeds, at least, which widowed Nature wears.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I would not have every man nor every part of a man cultivated, any more than I would have every acre of earth cultivated: part will be tillage, but the greater part will be meadow and forest, not only serving an immediate use, but preparing a mould against a distant future, by the annual decay of the vegetation which it supports.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)