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‘Mama’ Mutere was a tall tree near KFS office in the rainforest and became famous in the area. Local people would come to the tree to pray for rain and good harvests and visitors to the forest were taken to see it. Mama Mutere eventually died of old age in 2014 (Mutere trees are ‘pioneers’, growing fast and they tend to live for only about 50-60 years, a relatively short time for a tree).
Though Mama Mutere is gone, her memory lives on, as her seeds were used to plant many of its offspring, which still grow today in Kakamega forest, as well as in Taita Taveta. We found a Mutere tree by the forest station in Kakamega and at its feet many little seedlings. Mutere seeds germinate easily and grow so fast that the tree has become invasive, crowding out the indigenous trees where they were introduced to other areas, like Usambara hills of Tanzania (you can read more about invasive tree species here.
Mutere leaves and fruit (which turns purple as it matures)
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