When we think of savannas, scenes from The Lion King, The Jungle Book, or The Little Prince come to mind.
Well, you can try to recreate your favorite backdrops from these movies by decorating your outdoor space with plants that thrive in savannas! Here are our top picks to get you started.
16 Plants that Grow in Savannas
1. Jackalberry Tree (Diospyros mespiliformis)
| Scientific Name | Diospyros mespiliformis |
| Common Name | Jackalberry African Ebony |
| Family | Ebenaceae |
| Height | 15 to 18 feet |
| Soil Type | Moist Rocky Well-drained |
| Light | Full Sun |
| Life Cycle | Annual |
| Distribution or Habitat | Subsaharan Africa Riparian Forests |
| Uses | Fruit Medicinal Wood Termite Mounds |
The Jackalberry tree is a large evergreen tree that grows from 15 to 18 feet. Its roots are home to termites, which help aerate the soil and help surrounding plants grow better.
They’re commonly found in sub-Saharan Africa’s riverbeds, swampy areas, and savannas.
This tree also prefers moist, rocky, and well-drained soils.
The Jackalberry has a dense canopy filled with elliptical leaves with smooth margins. During rainy seasons, the tree blooms yellow bell-shaped flowers.
This tree is widely used for hardwood floors, furniture, and canoes. It’s also used medicinally as an astringent and antibiotic.
2. Lemon Grass (Cymbopogon citratus)
| Scientific Name | Cymbopogon citratus |
| Common Name | Lemongrass Lemon Grass Oil Grass Citronella |
| Family | Poaceae |
| Height | 2 to 4 feet |
| Soil Type | Good Drainage Moist |
| Light | Full Sun |
| Life Cycle | Perennial |
| Distribution or Habitat | Southeast Asia Tropical Grasslands |
| Uses | Medicinal |
You might have lemon grass as a staple aromatic herb in your kitchen, but it’s actually one of the plants that came from the savannas.
Lemon grass is also more popularly known as citronella, and this is because of the fresh lemon scent and citrus flavor that it uniquely produces.
On an even brighter note, Lemon grass helps in erosion control. This plant is used to prevent the uprooting of plants because of animals roaming around in your garden.
Lemon grass thrives in savannas because its special guard cells help store water and regulate gas exchange with its environment.
3. Acacia Tree (Acacia)
| Scientific Name | Acacia |
| Common Name | Acacia Wattles |
| Family | Fabaceae |
| Height | 13 to 66 feet |
| Soil Type | Loam Sand Well-drained |
| Light | Full Sun |
| Life Cycle | Perennial |
| Distribution or Habitat | Australia Africa Tropical Subtropical |
| Uses | Medicinal Wood |
The Acacia tree is one iconic and staple tree in African savannas. Honestly, we can’t imagine savannas without them!
Acacias are built to survive harsh conditions like drought, rocky soils, and high temperatures.
From afar, its wide canopy looks like an open umbrella. Upon a closer look, you’ll see its small, green feather-like leaves that usually grow in pairs.
The branches of the Acacia tree also have hooked thorns which serve as their defense system against herbivores.
They grow slowly from 13 to 66 feet tall, which makes them striking and fittingly the center of wildlife in savannas. Animals like monkeys, impalas, and rhinos eat the seed pods dropped by the Acacia tree.
Acacia trees are also widely cultivated to make wooden furniture.
4. Bluestem grass (Andropogon gerardii)
| Scientific Name | Andropogon gerardii |
| Common Name | Big Bluestem Bluestem Broomsedge Turkey Foot Barbed wire grass Silky heads Cochin grass Malabar grass Oily heads Citronella grass Fever grass |
| Family | Poaceae |
| Height | 4 to 8 feet |
| Soil Type | Clay Sand Good Drainage Moist Occasionally Dry Occasionally Wet |
| Light | Full Sun |
| Life Cycle | Perennial |
| Distribution or Habitat | Roadsides Pastures Prairie Glade Habitats |
| Uses | Ornamental Grasses Sedges |
Bluestems are a popular type of grass in savannas because it’s a common food source for its wildlife.
It’s versatile and can adapt to different environmental conditions. It prefers moist areas, but rest assured, it can also endure extreme droughts.
They grow in upright clumps of stems of flattened leaves. These leaves change colors every season.
In spring, its foliage is gray or blue-green, while in summer, its leaves turn to a red-green ombre. Finally, the leaves turn brown with a lavender tone during autumn.
You can use the Bluestem grass as an ornamental plant. It has shiny colorful leaves and the perfect height for garden landscapes.
5. Whistling Thorn (Vachellia drepanolobium)
| Scientific Name | Vachellia drepanolobium |
| Common Name | Acacia drepanolobium Whistling Thorn Black Cotton Ant-Gall Acacia |
| Family | Fabaceae |
| Height | 10 to 30 feet |
| Soil Type | ClayWell-drained |
| Light | Full Sun |
| Life Cycle | Perennial |
| Distribution or Habitat | East Africa Savannas |
| Uses | Fencing Tool Wood Kindling Gum |
The Whistling Thorn may just be one of the most exotic-looking plants in the savanna. As its name suggests, this plant has large thorns all over it.
It’s commonly found in equatorial countries in East Africa. It grows from 10 up to 30 feet tall.
It can adapt to various harsh conditions, making it a symbiotic home for ants.
The Whistling Thorn protects itself with 3-inch long spikes. Each of these thorns is hollow, yet contains sweet nectar.
The ants pierce through these thorns and consume the nectar inside, making the ants stay longer because of the on-hand food source it provides for them.
During dry seasons, the Whistling Thorn sheds its leaves to conserve water and survive the drought that is to come.
6. Gum Arabic Tree (Senegalia senegal)
| Scientific Name | Senegalia senegal |
| Common Name | Gum acacia Gum arabic tree Sudan gum Sudan gum arabic Kher Khor |
| Family | Fabaceae |
| Height | 16 to 29 feet |
| Soil Type | Sandy Slightly Loamy Clay Well-drained |
| Light | Full Sun |
| Life Cycle | Perennial |
| Distribution or Habitat | Sub-Saharan Africa India Semi-desert regions |
| Uses | Medicinal |
The Gum Arabic tree is an important tree and source of gum in Sudan. In fact, 80% of the world’s gum Arabic trees are located in that country
It’s cultivated as a main ingredient for food, medicine, and other pharmaceutical products.
The Gum Arabic is a relatively small tree in semi-desert regions like the Asian and African savannas.
It has small bipinnate leaves that form a rounded canopy on the tree. But be careful when touching its branches, because below each node are three-hooked thorns.
In the vast savanna, the Gum Arabic is one helpful tree as it improves soil fertility, and water infiltration by reducing wind speed. As a result, the plants are able to absorb water and fertilizers more efficiently.
7. Elephant Grass (Pennisetum purpureum)
| Scientific Name | Pennisetum purpureum |
| Common Name | Napier grass Elephant grass Uganda grass |
| Family | Poaceae |
| Height | 13 to 22 feet |
| Soil Type | Sandy Clay Moist Well-drained |
| Light | Full Sun |
| Life Cycle | Perennial |
| Distribution or Habitat | Africa Sub-Saharan region Roadsides Waterways Wetlands Floodplain Swamps Forest edges Disturbed areas Wastelands |
| Uses | Forage Livestock Landscaping |
This monocot plant is called elephant grass because it is a favorite food of – yes, you guessed it! – elephants in the wild.
What’s great about elephant grass is that it thrives well even in wet environments and is drought tolerant.
Elephant grass is also used as a fodder plant by dairy farmers. They gather the grass, dry them, and use them to feed farm animals.
But it’s more than that. You can use elephant grass as an ornamental and structural landscaping plant in your garden.
It’s one of the most high-yielding grasses in tropical regions and the savanna biomes of Africa and Australia. This is why it’s widely planted as a windbreak and recommended for its highly productive tropical forage.
8. Candelabra Tree (Euphorbia ingens)
| Scientific Name | Euphorbia ingens |
| Common Name | Candelabra Tree Naboom |
| Family | Euphorbiaceae |
| Height | 15 to 25 feet |
| Soil Type | Loam Moist Well-drained |
| Light | Full Sun |
| Life Cycle | Perennial |
| Distribution or Habitat | South Africa Coastal Inland Dry and rocky |
| Uses | Medicinal Wood Accent plant Border plant |
The Candelabra tree, as its name already suggests, looks like a candlestick holding its different branches upward. It’s commonly found in eastern and southern Africa.
The Candelabra is actually a succulent tree, also known as Naboom. It’s a tough tree that can survive extended droughts in dry and warm regions.
Although it grows slowly, it can reach up to 25 feet tall. Once it matures, the Candelabra tree grows segmented branches at the top of its trunk.
The stems of the Candelabra tree turn dark green and develop five ridges each. Unfortunately, these stems are covered with poisonous milky wax that can cause an eye inflammation called keratouveitis.
The Candelabra tree is a great source of food and nutrition. Its seeds and flowers are consumed by butterflies, bees, and some species of birds.
9. Baobab Tree (Adansonia digitata)
| Scientific Name | Adansonia digitata |
| Common Name | African baobab Monkey-bread tree Upside-down tree Cream of tartar tree |
| Family | Malvaceae |
| Height | 16 to 82 feet |
| Soil Type | Sandy Loan Well-drained |
| Light | Full Sun |
| Life Cycle | Perennial |
| Distribution or Habitat | Sub-Saharan Africa Tropical Savanna Low-lying, arid regions |
| Uses | Food Medicinal |
The Baobab tree is the longest living flowering plant in the world. It has literally withstood the test of time for more than 2,000 years.
Baobabs are perennial trees usually found in the savannas of the sub-Saharan African region.
Because of its thick, bottle-shaped trunk, you’ll easily know it’s a Baobab tree. This trunk can grow up to 82 feet in the wild.
They have palmate dark green leaves. But during dry seasons, it sheds and becomes leafless for around 8 months every year.
The Baobab tree also produces large white flowers. These flowers later turn into a fruit enclosed with a woody shell and a nutritious pulpy inside.
In the classic book The Little Prince, Baobab trees are likened to rosebushes that must be monitored and destroyed before it destroys a small “planet.”
This is actually not without good reason! Baobab trees tend to be invasive, competing with the surrounding plants’ water supply.
10. Bermuda Grass (Cynodon dactylon)
| Scientific Name | Cynodon dactylon |
| Common Name | Bermudagrass Bermuda Grass Devil’s Grass Dog’s Tooth Grass Scutch Grass Wire Grass |
| Family | Poaceae |
| Height | 3 to 6 inches |
| Soil Type | Clay High Organic Matter Loam (Silt) Sand Shallow Rocky Good Drainage Moist Occasionally Dry |
| Light | Full Sun |
| Life Cycle | Perennial |
| Distribution or Habitat | Australia Temperate Subtropical |
| Uses | Used as turf grass Athletic fields Golf courses Home lawns |
When you think of grass, you’re most likely picturing Bermuda grass. This is, by far, the most common type of grass in lawns.
The Bermuda grass actually originated from Australia and thrives in temperate and subtropical climates.
Bermuda grass is also as tough as it may seem. It can survive droughts and times when there is no regular water source.
In the wild, the Bermuda grass tends to have a dormant period to survive the tough conditions of savannas.
It turns to dry brown grass, but it’s not dead. It only needs water to return to its luscious green color.
It’s a fast-growing grass with the perfect height from 3 to 6 inches, making it suitable to cover your lawns. The key is to water it more often so that it will grow more quickly.
11. Rhodes Grass (Chloris gayana)
| Scientific Name | Chloris gayana |
| Common Name | Rhodes Grass |
| Family | Poaceae |
| Height | 3 to 6 feet |
| Soil Type | Loam Well-drained |
| Light | Full Sun |
| Life Cycle | Perennial Annual |
| Distribution or Habitat | East, West and Central Africa Tropical Subtropical |
| Uses | Cover Crop Soil Improver |
Rhodes grass is another common perennial and tropical grass that’s native in the savannas of Africa. It’s a perfect lawn cover growing at the perfect height of 3 to 6 inches tall.
It grows well in tropical and subtropical areas and can withstand extended dry seasons even with a limited water source. This is partly because its roots reach up to 4 meters underground, thereby getting more water beneath the soil.
This grass quickly spreads through its stolons and grows in bunches too. Its leaves, on the other hand, are elongated and hairless.
What makes the Rhodes grass unique are its uprights and shiny flowering spikelets on its stems.
In some regions, Rhodes grass is used as a graze for animals. It also serves as an efficient plant in reducing soil erosion.
12. Thatching Grass (Hyparrhenia rufa)
| Scientific Name | Hyparrhenia rufa |
| Common Name | Araguá Jaraguá grass Giant thatching grass |
| Family | Poaceae |
| Height | 3 to 9 feet |
| Soil Type | Clay |
| Light | Full Sun |
| Life Cycle | Perennial |
| Distribution or Habitat | Southern Africa America Asia Tropical |
| Uses | Forage Fodder Pasture Hay |
If you want a taller type of grass, you should consider thatching grass. It’s a robust and erect perennial grass that grows from 3 to 9 feet tall.
Thatching grass is commonly found in flooded areas, woodlands, disturbed areas, cultivated fields, and even under trees and termite mounds.
This plant has a rhizome underground from which its slim stems emerge. It grows in tufts with long green leaves.
During the blooming season, thatching grass produces flowers in twin spikelets.
You can use thatching grass to cover roofs. Using it on the ground is also an effective weed controller as it can smother those invasive species successfully.
13. River Bushwillow (Combretum erythrophyllum)
| Scientific Name | Combretum erythrophyllum |
| Common Name | River bushwillow Riviervaderlandswilg |
| Family | Combretaceae |
| Height | 22 to 40 feet |
| Soil Type | Loam Sandy |
| Light | Full Sun |
| Life Cycle | Perennial |
| Distribution or Habitat | Northeast South Africa Riverbanks |
| Uses | Varnish Ornament Wood Dye |
The River Bushwillow is one strong and tough tree in the African savanna. It’s a fast-growing tree and can reach from 22 to 40 feet.
But it’s not just that; the River Bushwillow is frost- and drought-resistant, so you’re sure it can survive extreme weather conditions.
This plant is easily identifiable for its multi-stemmed bole and smooth gray bark.
From afar, you’ll spot its dense and extensive canopy filled with elliptical dark green leaves with smooth margins.
During spring until early summer, the River Bushwillow blooms light yellow or cream-colored spikes of flowers, almost similar to dandelions.
You can incorporate this majestic tree in large gardens, parks, or other open grounds, giving your space an afternoon shade.
14. Digit Grass (Digitaria eriantha)
| Scientific Name | Digitaria eriantha |
| Common Name | Digitgrass Pangola-grass Finger grass Woolly finger grass |
| Family | Poaceae |
| Height | 2 to 5 feet |
| Soil Type | Loam Clay |
| Light | Full Sun |
| Life Cycle | Perennial |
| Distribution or Habitat | Africa Australia Argentina Humid Subtropical Tropical areas |
| Uses | Hay Pasture |
Digit grass is a versatile perennial plant native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa.
It’s also a popular grass choice in Australia and Argentina, where it’s also known as pangola grass or common finger grass, among others.
Digit grass also grows in dense clumps with extended stolons. It has long and thin green leaves that curve gracefully toward the ground.
Digit grass is quite a hairy plant. From its stems and leaves up to its stolons, it’s covered with fine hairs.
This is a tall type of grass with 2 to 5 feet in height. It makes it a great border plant or hedge for lawns and gardens like yours.
15. Wild Cashew Tree (Anacardium occidentale)
| Scientific Name | Anacardium occidentale |
| Common Name | Cashew tree Sandpaper tree Sandbox tree |
| Family | Anacardiaceae |
| Height | 20 to 35 feet |
| Soil Type | Sandy Loam Well-drained |
| Light | Full Sun |
| Life Cycle | Perennial |
| Distribution or Habitat | Northeastern Brazil Southeastern Venezuela India Tropical Subtropical regions |
| Uses | Food Medicinal Insecticide |
The Wild Cashew tree is a semi-deciduous plant indigenous to the tropical regions, savannas and dry forests of North and South America.
Compared to other trees, it’s relatively medium in height as it grows from 20 to 35 feet only.
The Wild Cashew tree has a short yet thick trunk that supports its round and dense canopy. It has bright green leaves known for having a rough surface similar to a sandpaper or sandbox, hence, its nickname.
The Wild Cashew tree produces curved edible seeds, which we commonly know as cashew nuts.
Apart from having a constant supply of these nuts, you can use the Wild Cashew tree as an ornamental plant in your landscape projects.
16. Sicklebush (Dichrostachys cinerea)
| Scientific Name | Dichrostachys cinerea |
| Common Name | Sicklebush Bell mimosa Chinese lantern tree Kalahari Christmas tree |
| Family | Fabaceae |
| Height | 9 to 22 feet |
| Soil Type | Clay Sandy |
| Light | Ful Syn |
| Life Cycle | Perennial |
| Distribution or Habitat | Africa India North Australia Carribean Southeast Asia Brushwood Thickets Hedges Grassland |
| Uses | Rope Medicinal |
Last but not least, we have the Sickle bush – a tree that produces natural colorful purple, white, and yellow-colored lanterns.
It’s a small yet unique tree native to Africa, Australia, and India. It’s a fast-growing plant that reaches from 9 to 22 feet.
The Sicklebush has bipinnate and compound green leaves that vary in size.
The main attraction is its bicolored cylindrical spikes of flowers that hang on the tree like a lantern.
The upper half comes in a lavender color while the bottom is yellow-green, making it an eye-catching natural ornament in the tree.
It’s surely a showstopper piece if you use the Sicklebush as a bush, ornamental, or a border plant in your lawn or backyard.
