Not many posts lately, so to stimulate interest here is some info.

About 10 km north of central Pretoria is one of the worlds most unusual trees. Called the Wonderboom which translated means the Miracle Tree. The tree is a wild fig and it is more than 1000 years old. It covers a area 1.5 hectares and can easily provide shade for more than 1000 people. A 5.5 metre diameter trunk at the heart of the tree is all that remains of the original sapling but branches of this trunk spread out radially and gradually droop to the ground, where they send out roots from which spring a circle of new trunks. The tree now has 13 distinct trunks and is still a healthy tree with nice lush foliage.

The tree appears to be a Ficus salicifolia but experts are not all agreed on this point as there are significant variations from the normal F. salicifolia , probably the most striking difference being that this tree is over 23 metres tall whereas usual trees do not exceed 9 metres in height , not to mention the size of the spread.

The tree is a national monument and is protected by a 450 hectare nature reserve around it, which is open to the public. The site is also interesting as one of the biggest archaeological finds in Africa was made nearby of artifacts of a people dating back to more than 50 000 years ago. More artifacts of these people were discovered in a small cave nearby.

Quite interesting I think. Garrick