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3.2.8 Scientific name : Faurea saligna Harv.<br />
Zulu name : Isigqalaba<br />
Common name : Transvaal Beech<br />
Figure 3.11 The Faurea saligna plant.<br />
(www.plantzafrica.com/efg/faureasal.htm)<br />
Botanical description<br />
Faurea saligna is a small to medium-sized tree. Its trunk is slender, gracefully<br />
twisted, and sometimes swollen at the base. A spreading, fairly sparse crown<br />
develops with age. It has a smooth, grey-brown bark resembling a drooping gum, at<br />
a distance, with alternate bright-green leaves. These leaves turn bright-red in<br />
autumn and have wavy margins and a short stalk. Tertiary reticulate venation is<br />
visible on the lower surface. It has greenish white flowers, and its fruits are round,<br />
green, fleshy nutlets, which are eaten by birds (Pooley, 1993).<br />
Distribution<br />
Faurea saligna has only been mapped 33 times in KwaZulu-Natal. The wide<br />
distribution <strong>of</strong> this species in the Midlands and the Lowlands is not recorded, as it is<br />
apparently common in the Tugela River valley, with outliers towards Vryheid. It has<br />
not been recorded on distribution maps for the Port Shepstone area either (Coates<br />
Palgrave, 2000).<br />
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