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Fever tree in Arusha National Park, Tanzania
These fever trees with their yellow bark commonly grow alongside rivers. Early settlers called it fever tree not only for its color, but also for believing it causes malaria. Truthfully, the tree happens to grow in habitat (slow flowing rivers) where malaria may be.
Being part of the acacia tree family, it grows very large thorns, which are used by many weavers birds as protection from other species.
Acacia xanthophloea is a tree in the Fabaceae family and is commonly known in English as the Fever Tree (local East African names include Olerai, Kimwea, Murera, and Mwelele). This species of acacia is native to eastern and southern Africa. It can be found in Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It has also become a landscape tree in other warm climates, outside of its natural range.
