| 释义 |
mopane S. Afr.|mɒˈpɑːniː|
Also mapani, mopané, mopani.
[Bantu mo-pane.]
1. A tree, Colophospermum mopane, of the family Leguminosæ, native to areas of low rainfall in southern Africa, and distinguished by rough, flaking, grey or brown bark, racemes of small, pale green flowers, and leaves formed of a pair of triangular leaflets joined at the base, which fold together during periods of intense heat. Also attrib.
1857D. Livingstone Missionary Trav. & Res. S. Afr. 91 In some parts there are forests of mimosæ and mopane. Ibid. 162 Numbers of ‘Baobab’ and ‘Mopané’ trees abound all over this hard smooth surface [of calcareous tufa]. 1864T. Baines Explor. S.-W. Afr. xv. 422 The palms and open grassy plain had given place to thickets of mimosa..and mopane. 1871J. Mackenzie Ten Years North of Orange River viii. 140 We at length found in a large mopane forest a well-beaten path. 1881E. E. Frewer tr. Holub's Seven Yrs. in S. Afr. I. 48 The mapani-tree, with its oleaginous leaves and porous brittle wood. 1893F. C. Selous Trav. & Adventure S.-E. Afr. 160 The fork of a mopani tree. 1906Chambers's Jrnl. Mar. 213/1 Viewed across the hazy expanse of baobab and mopane bush. 1910J. Buchan Prester John iv. 87 The mopani trees with their dull green wearied me. 1932Discovery July 224/1 The mopané is a resinous tree, making good fuel. 1947J. Stevenson-Hamilton Wild Life S. Afr. iv. 36 The Mopani belt in its extension along the Imbabate River. 1958L. van der Post Lost World of Kalahari vi. 110 We came down the side of the dunes on to a level plain covered with Mopani trees. 1973Palmer & Pitman Trees S. Afr. II. 842 The mopane is the dominant tree of large parts of northern South and South West Africa where great stretches of hot, arid country..are covered with it. Ibid. 843 Farmers in mopane veld look upon the tree as providing valuable fodder. 1975M. Hartmann Game for Vultures iii. 44 They moved..away into the black mopani bush.
2. mopane bee, beetle, fly, worm (see quots.).
1953S. H. Skaife African Insect Life xxi. 357 The stingless bees, or Mopani bees, as they are often called, that are found in Africa belong to the genus Trigona. 1972L. van der Post Story like the Wind vi. 161 At about ten in the morning..all the billions of mopani beetles, hidden behind the butterfly leaves of the trees, began to sing their Messiah to the day. 1975M. Hartmann Game for Vultures i. 2 Mopani flies, little black squelches, were skitting around his eyes and ears.
1966D. Varaday Gara-Yaka's Domain xvii. 182 No less a find than crawling, fat, three-inch-long worms! Mopani worms—Masonja—as the Bantu call these brightly coloured insects, are regarded by them as a great delicacy. 1973Palmer & Pitman Trees S. Afr. II. 843 Large, dark, spotted caterpillars, the larvae of the moth Gonimbrasia belina—5 to 8 cm long and fat as a finger—feed upon the mopane leaves and are used by Africans and Bushmen as food... Mopane worms are much valued by rural Africans and are often their richest source of protein. |