The aim of this post is to establish where we stand in terms of being able to identify the trees of Southern Africa. Thus far we have covered the top seven tree families: the Rubiaceae (coffee family), Fabaceae (the legumes), Celastraceae (the spike-thorns), Euphorbiaceae (Euphorbs or spurges), Anacardiaceae (mango family), Proteaceae (Proteoids) and Combretaceae (Bushwillows or Cluster-leafs). By my calculation this means we have covered families containing approximately 870 species, or just over 41% of all trees in Southern Africa! So we’re well on our way to meeting the challenge of identifying two thirds of the trees of the region.

Here is a quick (and pretty simple) breakdown of what we have covered and where we are going: