Plants in Serengeti National park
Plants in Serengeti National park : The vegetation in Serengeti National Park contributes to the formation of the world’s oldest and largest ecosystems, respectively. The renowned Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area are separated by the 30,000-square-kilometer Serengeti-Mara ecosystem, which passes through Serengeti National Park. The renowned ecosystem is traversed by the second-largest and most well-known animal migration in the world, the wildebeest migration. The impressive migration includes over 400,000 Thomson gazelles, over 200,000 zebras, over 1.5 million blue wildebeests, and other plain animals. The wildebeest are given the name of the migration because they are the ones who drive it and make up the majority of the team.
The Serengeti has a diverse range of habitats, including vast woodlands, grasslands, and riverine forests. It is not uncommon to not see a diverse range of grasses and trees in the Serengeti. The Serengeti is home to a wide range of trees, including:
The Sausage Serengeti Tree, or Kigelia Africana
Only a few of these massive Serengeti trees can be found in the Serengeti’s dry riverbeds; as the pulp rots, it releases highly long (up to 50 cm) succulent and poisonous seeds. The stalks can be seen for months after the fruit has dropped and are frequently mistaken for a leopard’s tail.
The Fig trees, or Ficus SP
Various types of fig trees can be found throughout Serengeti National Park. The plane gray bark, massive buttressing interwoven roots, and saucer-sized dark green leaves are easily recognized. Figs are recurring trees near wet riverbanks and in the rocky nooks of kopjes.
The Wild Date Palms, or Phoenix Reclinata
They are monocotyledons, which means their leaf veins are unbranched and parallel. Bananas, lilies, orchids, and grasses are all relatives. The Serengeti’s palm trees are dominated by wild date palms that grow along rivers and wetlands. Their fruits are edible but have an unpleasant taste. Wine can be made from the delicious sap of palm trees. The plentiful shade provided by the tree is appreciated by resting lions.
The Commiphora, or Commiphora Africana
Vachellia and Commiphora have distinct personalities; their papery blue or yellowish bark, peeling, and roundish leaves distinguish them. The Serengeti is home to a wide variety of these trees, but they are most common in the park’s eastern section. Traditional medicine treats a variety of diseases with the roots, bark, and berries, including rashes, stomach problems, and liver problems, among others. Commiphora Africana is the most common myrrh species in Africa.
The Yellow Fever Tree, or Vachellia Xanthophloea
Yellow fever trees in the Serengeti can be found in abundance along rivers and near marshes and floodplains. They have broad branches that reach outward and large white thorns on the trunk. It’s impossible to overlook. Because early settlers believed malaria was more common in its vicinity and because it was always close to water, the yellow trees growing nearby were dubbed the “Yellow Fever Tree.”
The Umbrella-Holding tree, or Vachellia Tortilis
The African Serengeti’s trees represent the continent, with their distinct shape breaking up the monotonous expanse of the plains. The Serengeti National Park’s Vachellia Tortilis stands out due to its large white thorns, dark bark, and unusual flat top. Elephants and giraffes eat the seeds of this tree. Because of their inability to withstand bushfires, umbrella tree seedlings have only appeared in large numbers twice in the last 125 years. The majority of the Serengeti’s umbrella trees are 125 or 45 years old.
The Whistling-sounding Thorn, or Vachellia Drepanolobium
These are the most unusual Serengeti trees Africa has to offer; they have hard, hollow spheres at the base of their thorns that are loaded with biting ants. The tree’s protection also provides food and shelter for ants in its “extrafloral nectaries,” or unique flower-like networks. The ant’s void makes whistling noises as it crawls within the hollow galls, hence the name whistling thorn. These tiny trees thrive when the earth is regularly saturated with water.
GRASSES
The Red-Oatgrass, or Themeda Triandra
Kangaroo grass, or Rooigras in Afrikaans, is one of the most common grasses in the forests and long-grass plains of the Serengeti National Park. As it dries, it takes on a vibrant pinkish-red hue. Red Oatgrass can grow so densely on meadowland that it resembles a wheat field, complete with flat, fan-shaped seeds. Wildebeest consume red Oatgrass only after other grasses have been depleted.
The Fingers Grass, or Digitaria Macroblephora
This is most likely the most common grass in the Serengeti. It’s difficult to find a grazer who hasn’t nibbled on its nourishing leaves. As the name implies, the seed heads resemble tiny fingers reaching skyward.
The Dropseed Pan, or Sporobolus Ioclados
On the short-grass plains, this Sporobolus species and the Finger grasses are the two dominant species. Both species’ dwarf forms make it difficult to tell them apart. Pan Dropseed is distinguished from other grass species by its ornamental seed head, which resembles a miniature Christmas tree with the seeds dangling below the fronds.
THE INVASIVE PLANT SPECIES IN SERENGETI
Non-native plants, such as invasive species, are a nuisance because they displace the local vegetation. They are a fast-growing weed that has rendered some agricultural areas unfit for farming and competes with crops and native vegetation. A shipment of wheat seeds brought Mexican Marigold to the area. Other names for the Prickly Pear include Opuntia sp., Custard Oil, Rhoicissus sp., and other invasive species. Non-native species in the Serengeti National Park may have a significant impact on park vegetation and wildlife behavior. Mexican marigolds, Custard oils, and Prickly pear trees can be found throughout the park, particularly along roadsides where seeds are easily dispersed by passing vehicles.
