Fever Tree - the misconception of malaria
On one hand you know the name Fever-Tree from a tonic water manufacturer, on the other side the name comes from southern Africa, named after a beautiful tree. I last saw these trees this February in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. There we were told how the name originated and what it has to do with malaria.
The trivial name Gelbrinden Acacia is a direct translation of the botanical species epithet xanthophloea.
Fever Acacia and the English trivial name "Fever Tree" is derived from its location in malaria areas - the warm and humid environment is a breeding ground for the Anopheles mosquitoes which transmit malaria. The first settlers attributed malaria infections to the presence of the tree.
The term fever tree is ambiguous in that, in addition to the fever acacia, the unrelated cinchona bark trees are occasionally called fever trees. In this case the reason for the name lies in the bark. This contains quinine, a well-known historical antimalarial agent.
In its native area it is called Fever tree (English), Koorsboom (Afrikaans), mooka-kwena (northern Sotho), umHlosinga (Zulu), nkelenga (Tsonga) and munzhelenga (Venda).
Of course it occurs in the warm regions of the low-lying Lowveld in southeastern Africa (especially Zimbabwe and South Africa) and as far as Kenya and Somalia along river courses, lakes, in flood plains and swamps. In suitable natural habitats Vachellia xanthophloea forms light forests.
(source: wikipedia)
Fever-Tree Tonic Water
Nowadays, Fever Tree is known as the famous tonic water that accompanies every fine gin.
Tip: My favourite gin is Gin Mare with Mediterranean Tonic Water from Fever-Tree. Gin Mare ist distilled from olives, thyme, rosemary and basil. Try it out!
The following pictures were taken with the Fujifilm GFX50R. The lens used was the GF 110mm f/2.0 and partly the Extension Tube MCEX-18G WR.
Fever Tree
And this tree is the namesake for the tonic water. The yellow-bark acacia is the direct translation of the botanical species epithet xanthophloea.
“I photographed this beautiful specimen in andBeyond Phinda Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa in February 2020.”
