Vachellia flava | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Fabales |
Family: | Fabaceae |
Subfamily: | Caesalpinioideae |
Clade: | Mimosoid clade |
Genus: | Vachellia |
Species: | V. flava |
Binomial name | |
Vachellia flava (Forssk.) Kyal. & Boatwr. [2] | |
Synonyms [2] | |
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Vachellia flava, synonym Acacia ehrenbergiana, [2] is a species of drought-resistant bush or small tree, commonly known as salam in Arabic. It is found in the Sahara, the northern Sahel, parts of East Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. [2]
Vachellia flava is a tall shrub or small tree, seldom exceeding 4 metres (13 ft) in height. It is much branched, the trunk has dark brown, shaggy bark and the branches are green or brown with shiny, peeling bark. The compound leaves are small, with up to four pairs of pinnae, each with eight to twelve pairs of pinnules. Growing in the leaf axils are paired white thorns which are up to 6 centimetres (2.4 in) in length and longer than the leaves. [3] The fluffy, golden-yellow flowers are globular and about 1.5 cm (0.6 in) in diameter. The seeds pods are flattened and curved with constrictions between the seeds. [3] [4] This shrub resembles the red acacia ( Vachellia seyal ) but that species lives in habitats with higher precipitation and has thorns that are shorter than its leaves. [3] It also resembles Vachellia hockii but that species has leaves that usually have only one or two pinnae. [1]
Vachellia flava is native to the central and southern Sahara and the northern part of the Sahel but is uncommon in the western Sahara. It also occurs in East Africa and Arabia. It is a very drought-tolerant species and can survive in areas with a rainfall range of between 50 and 400 millimetres (2.0 and 15.7 in) per annum. [3] It is typically found growing in shallow depressions and gullies, positions where water can be expected to seep into the ground on the rare occasions when rain falls. [3] The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species lists the plant as being of "Least Concern" as it is common across its large range, the population is stable and it is often the dominant vegetation type in the areas in which it grows. Nevertheless, it is important that it is not over-exploited because of its importance to indigenous people. [1]
The foliage of Vachellia flava is used for livestock feed and the trees are sometimes pollarded for this purpose. [3] It is an important fodder plant for camels, goats and sheep and the flowers are visited by bees which make "acacia honey" from the nectar. [3] The timber is used for charcoal and firewood, the bark for fibre to be wound into ropes, and the sap produces a low quality gum which oozes from damaged parts of the trunk. An ointment is made from the plant's ground up tissues. [1] [3]
Robinia pseudoacacia, commonly known in its native territory as black locust, is a medium-sized hardwood deciduous tree, belonging to the tribe Robinieae of the legume family Fabaceae. It is endemic to a few small areas of the United States, but it has been widely planted and naturalized elsewhere in temperate North America, Europe, Southern Africa and Asia and is considered an invasive species in some areas. Another common name is false acacia, a literal translation of the specific name.
Senegalia greggii, formerly known as Acacia greggii, is a species of tree in the genus Senegalia native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, from the extreme south of Utah south through southern Nevada, southeast California, Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas to Baja California, Sinaloa and Nuevo León in Mexico. The population in Utah at 37°10' N is the northernmost naturally occurring Senegalia species anywhere in the world.
Vachellia farnesiana, also known as Acacia farnesiana, and previously Mimosa farnesiana, commonly known as sweet acacia, huisache, or needle bush, is a species of shrub or small tree in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is deciduous over part of its range, but evergreen in most locales. The species grows to a height of 15–30 feet (4.6–9.1 m) and grows multiple trunks. The base of each leaf is accompanied by a pair of thorns on the branch. Its flowers are used in the perfume industry.
Vachellia tortilis, widely known as Acacia tortilis but now attributed to the genus Vachellia, is the umbrella thorn acacia, also known as umbrella thorn and Israeli babool, a medium to large canopied tree native to most of Africa, primarily to the savanna and Sahel of Africa, but also occurring in the Middle East.
Vachellia erioloba, the camel thorn, giraffe thorn, or Kameeldoring in Afrikaans, still more commonly known as Acacia erioloba, is a tree of southern Africa in the family Fabaceae. Its preferred habitat is the deep dry sandy soils in parts of South Africa, Botswana, the western areas of Zimbabwe and Namibia. It is also native to Angola, south-west Mozambique, Zambia and Eswatini. The tree was first described by Ernst Heinrich Friedrich Meyer and Johann Franz Drège in 1836. The camel thorn is a protected tree in South Africa.
Adenium obesum is a poisonous species of flowering plant belonging to the tribe Nerieae of the subfamily Apocynoideae of the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. It is native to the Sahel regions south of the Sahara, tropical and subtropical eastern and southern Africa and also the Arabian Peninsula. Common names include Sabi star, kudu, mock azalea, impala lily and desert rose. Adenium obesum is a popular houseplant and bonsai in temperate regions.
Vachellia nilotica, more commonly known as Acacia nilotica, and by the vernacular names of gum arabic tree, babul, thorn mimosa, Egyptian acacia or thorny acacia, is a flowering tree in the family Fabaceae. It is native to Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. It is also considered a 'weed of national significance' and an invasive species of concern in Australia, as well as a noxious weed by the federal government of the United States.
Vachellia karroo, commonly known as the Sweet thorn, is a species of Vachellia, native to southern Africa from southern Angola east to Mozambique, and south to South Africa.
Senegalia laeta, the gay acacia or daga, is a legume found in the family Fabaceae. It was formerly included in the genus Acacia.
Vachellia nubica is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae.
Vachellia seyal, the red acacia, known also as the shittah tree, is a thorny, 6– to 10-m-high tree with a pale greenish or reddish bark. At the base of the 3–10 cm (1.2–3.9 in) feathery leaves, two straight, light grey thorns grow to 7–20 cm (2.8–7.9 in) long. The blossoms are displayed in round, bright yellow clusters about 1.5 cm (0.59 in) diameter.
Vachellia sieberiana, until recently known as Acacia sieberiana and commonly known as the paperbark thorn or paperbark acacia, is a tree native to southern Africa and introduced into Pakistan. It is used in many areas for various purposes. The tree varies from 3 to 25 m in height, with a trunk diameter of 0.6 to 1.8 m. It is not listed as being a threatened species.
Faidherbia is a genus of leguminous plants containing one species, Faidherbia albida, which was formerly widely included in the genus Acacia as Acacia albida. The species is native to Africa and the Middle East and has also been introduced to Pakistan and India. Common names include apple-ring acacia, and winter thorn. The South African name is ana tree.
Vachellia xanthophloea is a tree in the family Fabaceae, commonly known in English as the fever tree. This species of Vachellia is native to eastern and southern Africa. It has also become a landscape tree in other warm climates, outside of its natural range.
Pistacia aethiopica is an African and Arabia coast peninsula species of plant in the family Anacardiaceae. It is a dioecious evergreen shrub or tree of the pistacio genus, growing up to 20 m (66 ft) tall, adapted to the dry environment. It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Somaliland, Tanzania, Uganda, and Yemen.
Ziziphus mucronata, known as the buffalo thorn, is a species of tree in the family Rhamnaceae, native to southern Africa. It is deciduous and may grow up to 17 metres tall. It can survive in a variety of soil types, occurring in many habitats, mostly open woodlands, often on soils deposited by rivers, and grows frequently on termite mounds. Its Zulu name “umLahlankosi” alludes to its use as a grave marker for tribal chiefs, while the Afrikaans name “Blinkblaar-wag-'n-bietjie” alludes to the shiny light green leaves and the hooked thorns.
Vachellia drepanolobium, commonly known as whistling thorn, is a swollen-thorn acacia native to East Africa. The whistling thorn grows up to 6 meters tall. It produces a pair of straight spines at each node, some of which have large bulbous bases. These swollen spines are naturally hollow and occupied by any one of several symbiotic ant species. The common name of the plant is derived from the observation that when wind blows over bulbous spines in which ants have made entry and exit holes, they produce a whistling noise.
Vachellia is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, commonly known as thorn trees or acacias. It belongs to the subfamily Mimosoideae. Its species were considered members of genus Acacia until 2009. Vachellia can be distinguished from other acacias by its capitate inflorescences and spinescent stipules. Before discovery of the New World, Europeans in the Mediterranean region were familiar with several species of Vachellia, which they knew as sources of medicine, and had names for them that they inherited from the Greeks and Romans.
Vachellia reficiens, commonly known as red-bark acacia, red thorn, false umbrella tree, or false umbrella thorn, is a deciduous tree or shrub of the pea family (Fabaceae) native to southern Africa, often growing in an upside-down cone shape and with a relatively flat crown.
Vachellia abyssinica, the flat top acacia, is a tree up to 16 m tall.