Quiver trees in Namibia

Stretching to the sky. Quiver trees in Namibia

The quiver trees pictured on our homepage are uniquely suited to Namibia's hot, dry climate. They are not trees at all, but an endangered species of aloe plant. These succulents can grow up to 30 feet tall and live for 200 years. The name comes from the Indigenous San people who made quivers out of the plant's tube-shaped branches to hold their arrows while hunting. You can see scattered quiver trees across southern Namibia, but for sheer numbers, head to the Quiver Tree Forest, where more than 200 of these distinctive plants grow among dolerite rock formations outside the city of Keetmanshoop. In June and July, during Namibia's winter, you can see the plant's flowers in bright, yellow bloom.