Close up of the golden yellow bark of a quiver tree (Aloe dichotoma), in Namibia.


Close up of the golden yellow bark of a quiver tree (Aloe dichotoma), the national tree of Namibia. Its common name comes from the fact that the San people or bushmen use its branches to make quiver for their arrows. The silvery powder that cover its forked branches reflect the sun and its fibrous trunk help keep it cool. The scales in its trunk can be very sharp. Quiver trees can live up to 300 years and may reach a height of 9m. They grow in the rocky desert highlands of Namibia and South Africa Global warming is threatening this species as scientific observations have already alerted.


Size: 4740px × 3554px
Location: Fish River Canyon, Karas, Namibia
Photo credit: © Maria Adelaide Silva / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: africa, african, aloe, arid, asparagales, asphodelaceae, bark, botanic, botanical, botany, bushmanland, cape, close, close-, closeup, desert, dichotoma, endangered, endemic, flora, global, golden, horizontal, indigenous, karas, kokerboom, lilliopsida, macro, magnoliophyta, namaqualand, namibia, namibian, national, northern, peel, peeling, plant, quiver, skin, southern, species, threatened, tree, trunk, vegetation, warming, yellow