Cussonia spicata trunk

The sometimes squat trunk of Cussonia spicata is covered in grey bark that becomes thick and corky. It is white in picture on old patches, dark to nearly black in the irregular fissures. Some of the pale parts are caused by lichen growing upon the surface.

The trunk shape in picture is narrow in the middle, broad nearer the foot of the tree and broadening before dividing into branches (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Schmidt, et al, 2002).