 |
|
BATS
AND THE AFRICAN TULIP TREE (Spathodea campanulata) |
African tulip tree, Hawaii
Photograph courtesy of Forest & Kim Starr (USGS)
Fujita (1991)listed Peter's dwarf epauletted bat (Micropteropus pusillus)as a pollinator of the flowers of the African tulip tree (Spathodea campanulata)in West Africa. That listing is based on a journal article by E.S. Ayensu(2)
Peter's dwarf epauletted bat (Micropteropus pusillus)
The African tulip tree is native to Africa. It also grows in Sri Lanka, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Colombia(3)and Fiji(5).
The African tulip tree has notable bat-planted or bat-pollinated relatives in its family, Bignoneaceae; the sausage tree (Kigelia africana, the broken bones tree, (Oroxylum indicum) and the calabash tree (Crescentia cujete).
The wood of the African tulip tree is soft. It can be used to make crates, forms for cement, particle board and pulp. In a country that is in constant need of firewood, the African tulip tree is spared from that use. In fact, its wood burns so poorly that it is used to make bellows and to enclose forges.(3)
Fujita cites a source, Dalziel,(4)that describes the use of its bark, flowers and leaves for medicine. Francis cites references that support its use for medicine, magic and poison for animals. (References 12 and 24 of (3))
The most enthusiastic use of the African tulip tree is as an ornamental. Its beautiful flowers are on display for five months or more of the year. Francis cites a source (29)which said that the brilliance of the flowering trees on an African coastal headland was so great that the trees could be used to aid navigation.
The African tulip tree, like many bat-pollinated and planted trees, is a colonizing tree that helps to protect and restore damaged land, whether it be by storm, erosion or mining. The tree likes a loamy, well-drained soil but it will also grow in a dry soil or a poorly drained clay soil.
Some of the tree's positive attributes as an ornamental and a colonizer work again its acceptance in other scenarios. Producing beautiful blooms for five months or more of a year means producing a myriad of far-flying seeds. The seeds germinate readily in poor soil, good soil, wet soil and dry soil. Those factors combine to make the African tulip tree a pest species in some countries, joining other bat-planted or pollinated colonizing plants including carob and turkeyberry trees.
In March of 2000 a national workshop was held in Fiji to plan a program for controlling the African tulip tree which was invading temporarily uncultivated agricultural fields and native forests. Some of the measures considered for control were introduction of an Eryophid insect and chemical application, and discouragement of the use of the tree as a living fence and as an ornamental. (5)
Native forests in Fiji were losing species diversity because of an African tulip tree invasion. Native forests were also being cleared for agriculture by farmers who had abandoned the cleared fields laying fallow that had been colonized by the African tulip tree. (5)
African tulip tree, Hawaii
Photograph courtesy of Forest & Kim Starr (USGS)
References:
(1)Fujita, M.S. 1991. Flying Fox (Chiroptera:Pteropodidae) Pollination, Seed Dispersal, and Economic Importance: A Tabular Summary of Current Knowledge, Resource Publication No. 2, Bat Conservation International
(2)Ayensu, E.S. 1974 Plant and bat interactions in West Africa. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gar. 61:702-727
(3)Francis, John K., Spathodea campanulata, African tulip tree, Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest Service, Puerto Rico, References 1-30, July 1990; http://www.fs.fed.us/global/iitf/pubs/sm_iitf032%20%20(5).pdf
(4)Dalziel, J.M. 1937 The useful plants of West Tropical Africa. (An appendix to the Flora of West Tropical Africa.) Crown Agents for the Colonies, London.
(5)Labrada, R., FAO Weed Officer, African Tulip Tree (Spathodea campanulata) in Fiji and its presence in Central America, updated 18 July 2006 http://www.fao.org/ag/agp/agpp/IPM/Weeds/Issues/AfricanTT.htm