Peltophorum africanum

The Weeping Wattle gets its intriguing name from spittle bugs, sap-sucking insects, that live in large numbers on its branches and excrete substantial quantities of almost pure water that continuously drip from the tree as if it is crying, especially in spring.

A semi-deciduous and rather untidy tree that can grow up to 15m high, the Weeping Wattle has a wide range of uses, from being fodder for livestock and popular with honey farmers to being used for furniture manufacturing and as an ingredient in traditional medicine.

Weeping Wattles grow in savanna-associations, often in sandy soils, and in South Africa occurs in Kwazulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Gauteng and North West.

Weeping Wattle

Weeping Wattle

Weeping Wattle

Weeping Wattle blooms being eaten by a Gleaming Fruit Chafer beetle

Weeping Wattle blooms

Weeping Wattle tree in bloom in Satara’s camping area

Weeping Wattle

Weeping Wattle blooms

Rhulani, our guide on the Sweni Trail, explaining why a Weeping Wattle can also be called a “toiletpaper bush”