Buffalo Thorn
The Buffalo thorn is an interesting tree/bush with so many amazing medicinal properties, cultural believes and stories.
See below the picture of a Buffalo thorn tree and the twig. You will note on the twig I cut from this tree the amazing thorn structure.
A longer straight thorn and a curved hooked back thorn, you can imagine that if you got chased by a Buffalo into one of these bushes you are not getting out very easy!
The Afrikaans name is the best description you will find out there. In Afrikaans the Buffalo thorn is called “Blinkblaar-wag-‘n-bietjie” which directly translates to “Shiny leaf, wait a bit” illuding to these thorns making it hard to escape its grasp.
Picture of the tree courtesy of https://pza.sanbi.org/ziziphus-mucronata
My picture of the twig
Back when I was doing my training to be a field guide in 2005, the Buffalo thorn was the first tree we learned, and it was purely because the Latin or Botanical name was so difficult “Ziziphus Mucronata” I must say I never forgot it.
We learned that the dried fruit seeds can be used to make coffee. I was dominant to try it myself but as the fruits are so tiny like probably the diameter of the back of a pen, I had to collect a lot of them. I then roasted them over the fire on a pan and used our Bush kitchen to find a Mortar and Pestle to grind the seeds up. (We lived in the bush for 6 months hence “bush kitchen”- click here to watch a video of a spotted bush snake catching a Gecko in our bush kitchen.
I then boiled some water and mixed the ground Buffalo thorn seeds into a mug with the boiled water. It honestly tastes just like coffee; I am not sure if there is any caffeine content but that was not the point of the exercise.
The leaves of the plant can be used as a salad as they contain very little tannins, so they are not bitter like many other plants leaves.
The Zulus have some interesting cultural beliefs about this plant, one of which being that when a person dies away from their home i.e.: in another province from say a car crash etc. A member of the family will cut a twig from the Buffalo thorn tree and take it with him to collect the deceased body. When he views the body, he will place the twig on the bodies chest and will call the persons spirit into the twig so they can make the journey back to their home village.
You will note that the twigs hooked thorns would hook into the deceased clothing and the long thorns on the other side of the twig point up to heaven, so it is like, guiding the persons spirit to the Gods.
The family member will now return to the home village and if he must take a taxi he will now pay for two people, himself and the persons soul in the twig.
When arriving back to the village a couple things have been known to happen. Sometimes the twig is hung above the person door/entrance to the hut or often placed in the centre of the Cattle Kraal where they Cows can walk on it or eat it etc. This is considered respectful because the Zulus Cattle is most sacred and valuable to them it is like money.
Some time, I will need to write a blog post on Lobola which is where a young man sometimes not so young has to pay the future father-in-law in cows to marry his daughter. Usually, 10 to 12 Cows…
Medicinal uses:
A decoction of the roots can be used for pain relief.
A paste made from grinding up the leaves can be used to treat wounds and skin infections.
The ground roots can be drunk to assist with stomach issues like diarrhea, cramps and lower back pain. The root can also be used to treat snake bites.
