(Photos: All photos on this page are by Martin Heigan.)
Introduction
Martin Heigan is a wonderful photographer who works in South Africa. Many of his photographs show details and plants of the desert.
The details
Martin’s photographs of Aloe dichotoma (quiver tree) are beautiful and capture the breathtaking beauty of this giant aloe. Apparently, the common name comes from the hollowed-out branches that were used as arrow quivers by native peoples.
A. dichotoma is emblematic of South Africa, but it does occur in Namibia. There are three subspecies of quiver tree (dichotoma, ramosissima, and pilansii [but sometimes they are treated as three separate Aloe species]). A. dichotoma pilansii is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. A. dichotoma dichotoma can grow to nearly 80-ft tall (ancient plants), and has thick trunks can be about 3-ft across near the base.
There is some evidence that A. dichotoma may be in decline due to global warming; forests are not recruiting enough seedlings to keep up with losses of mature trees. Perhaps altered temperatures or rainfalls are to blame.
Additional Reading: Quiver Tree and Global Warming
