Aloe dichotoma (Quiver Tree)
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
The quiver tree and the welwitschia are generally recognized as the two “national plants” of Namibia. Aloidendron dichotomum was formerly known as Aloe dichotoma; in 2013, in response to new molecular studies, the genus Aloe was reclassified and a new genus, Aloidendron, was created for the tree aloes. The quiver tree, a tall, branching desert succulent, is endemic to southern Namibia and the Northern Cape province of South Africa. This region, known as the Succulent Karroo, is unparalleled by any arid region on Earth for its biodiversity. One of only two arid “biodiversity hotspots” (internationally recognized areas of the highest concentrations of biodiversity, under serious threat), the Succulent Karoo Biome has the richest succulent flora in the world, hosting one-third of the world’s species. Containing some 2,800 plant species considered at increased risk of extinction, only a small fraction of the region is currently conserved.
The name “quiver tree” comes from a practice of indigenous San hunters—a way of life itself virtually exterminated—of hollowing out the soft pulp from branches to make quivers for their arrows. Quiver tree branches are coated with a reflective white powder on their bark, which acts as a kind of sunscreen. In response to severe environmental stress, such as extreme heat and drought, quiver trees will “self-amputate” limbs. As a result of climate change, Aloidendron dichotomum, which can live more than three hundred years and can grow to a height of over twenty-five feet, has been classified as Vulnerable and appears on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. An increase in average temperature and a decrease in rain across its range have caused large die-backs since 2001, a trend expected to accelerate in the near future. While some evidence suggests the quiver tree may be shifting its range to higher, cooler altitudes, attempting to “escape” warming habitat, this coping behavior may be too slow to outrun climate change, which of course will affect higher elevations as well.
An even more dire future is at hand for the quiver tree’s close relative, the giant quiver tree, Aloidendron pillansii, also known as the “bastard quiver tree.” The giant quiver tree, which generally has fewer branches than the quiver tree, can grow up to 30 or 40 feet and lives in an even narrower slice of the quiver tree’s range, found only in extreme northwest South Africa and the rugged mountains of southern Namibia. As a result of ecosystem degradation and climate change, the giant quiver tree is listed as Critically Endangered; as of 2021, less than 200 of these trees remained still alive, with no new seedlings being produced.
However, this poem is set in the Quiver Tree Forest of southern Namibia, where more than two hundred Aloidendron dichotomum grow among a tumbled field of dark boulders of dolerite, an igneous rock. The forest is also home to large colonies of sociable weaver birds (Philetairus socius), who nest in the trees’ crowns. The huge communal nests of the sociable weaver, a species endemic to the Namib and Kalahari deserts of southern Africa, are the world’s most populated and the largest built by songbirds. One nest can weigh more than a ton and contain more than a hundred nesting chambers. Unlike other weaver birds, sociable weavers don’t make intricately woven basket nests; instead, their nests resemble traditional houses or “huts,” down to their thatched, sloped roofs, designed so that the rare but intense desert rain will run off rather than flood the nest. Much as these houses do, sociable weaver nests provide their denizens with excellent protection from rain, sun, drought, and cold.
Within the communal nest, each breeding pair of sociable weavers creates and maintains its own “apartment”; these entrances are all at the bottom of the nest, so looking up into a sociable weaver nest thatching a quiver tree or utility pole along a Kalahari highway is like looking into a giant honeycomb. Sociable weavers, whose conservation status is currently Least Concern, stay at the nest year-round, continually making improvements and repairs; a single nest can last more than a century, with each successive generation extending it.
Sandra Meek is the author of six books of poems, most recently Still (Persea Books, 2020), named a “New & Noteworthy Poetry Book” by The New York Times Book Review. Read more.
“Aloe dichotoma (Quiver Tree)” was previously published in An Ecology of Elsewhere, Persea Books, 2016.