*MARULA TREE* From Africa to Opensim * FREE and FULLPERM * Available at FOREST AREA, BOX 03!

MARULA TREE (Sclerocarya birrea)

Indigenous to southern Africa (and parts of West Africa and Madagascar), the Marula tree is known for its sweet, yellow fruit – and local lore says that same fruit becomes 'elephant alcohol' once it's fallen to the ground and fermented. Although scientists debunked the drunk elephant myth back in 2005, the alcohol association is not really surprising as the fruit is used to produce Amarula, the second-best-selling cream liqueur in the world. Traditionally the tree is used for everything from malaria cures to insecticide, not to mention as a food source – even more so in the summer months when the branches are often decorated with brightly coloured mopane worms, themselves an important source of protein for millions of people in southern Africa.