Vachellia reficiens

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Vachellia reficiens
Acacia reficiens-1557 - Flickr - Ragnhild & Neil Crawford.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Clade: Mimosoid clade
Genus: Vachellia
Species:
V. reficiens
Binomial name
Vachellia reficiens
(Wawra) Kyal. & Boatwr. [2]
Subspecies
  • Vachellia reficiens subsp. misera(Vatke) Kyal. & Boatwr.
  • Vachellia reficiens subsp. reficiens(Wawra) Kyal. & Boatwr.
Synonyms
  • Acacia reficiensWawra

Vachellia reficiens (Afrikaans : Rooihak, German: Rotrindenakazie), commonly known as red-bark acacia, red thorn, [3] false umbrella tree, [3] or false umbrella thorn, [4] 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.

Contents

Taxonomy

The Austrian naturalist Heinrich Wawra von Fernsee described Vachellia reficiens (as Acacia reficiens) in 1859. It forms a species complex with V. luederitzii , also from central and southern Africa. [5] Two subspecies exist: V. reficiens subspecies reficiens, which found in Angola and southwestern Africa, [5] and has affinities to V. luederitzii, [6] and V. reficiens subsp. misera which is found in eastern Africa, from Sudan and Somalia through Kenya and into Uganda, [5] and has affinities to V. etbaica . [6] With the re-typification of the genus Acacia [7] this species was placed in Vachellia . [8]

Description

Vachellia reficiens can grow up to 5 metres (16 ft) in height. Its bark is reddish-brown or greyish-black, and is quite rough and fissured. The younger growing branches can have a purple-red appearance, hence its common names. An interesting characteristic about this plant is that it has both, long, straight thorns and shorter curved/hook-like thorns, but generally not both in one pair. Leaves are bipinnately compound (as is common in most African acacia species) with 1 to 4 pinnae pairs, where each pinna again has 5 to 13 leaflet pairs. The flowers are white- to cream-coloured, and mostly seen during the summer months of December and January, but they can blossom almost all year round, depending on the geographical location. The fruit is a flat red-brown pod.

Distribution and habitat

Vachellia reficiens is found in the drier areas of Africa, in the countries of Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda. [9] This plant prefers rocky soil types and it does not grow in high rainfall areas, but rather in semidesert and arid shrubland.

It is an abundant dominant species of arid shrubland throughout Kenya, [10] and it forms up to 30% of total woody canopy in the South Turkana Ecosystem in the Turkana District. [11] In some savannas and woodlands Vachellia reficiens is a species of woody encroachment, crowding out herbaceous plants.

Ecology

This tree's leaves are browsed upon by game and small livestock like the Greater Kudu and goats. [11] In some areas of Namibia and Kenya, Vachellia reficiens subsp. reficiens is considered an encroaching species, as it can outcompete grass species on agricultural rangeland, especially on disturbed soil. [4] It is very opportunistic and hardy and can subsequently take over large areas of native vegetation.

Uses

The nomadic Ngisonyoka people in the Turkana District of Kenya use Vachellia reficiens wood to build temporary houses. [11] In Namibia's Kaokoveld region, the branches of this tree are used for fencing and the bark is used to curdle milk, while the thorns can be used to pierce ears. The seeds can be baked in hot ash, crushed, ground and mixed with tobacco to use as snuff. [12] The Giriama people use the wood for firewood and charcoal, and straight stems for poles. [13]

Related Research Articles

<i>Acacia sensu lato</i> Genus of legumes

Acacia s.l., known commonly as mimosa, acacia, thorntree or wattle, is a polyphyletic genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae. It was described by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773 based on the African species Acacia nilotica. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not. All species are pod-bearing, with sap and leaves often bearing large amounts of tannins and condensed tannins that historically found use as pharmaceuticals and preservatives.

<i>Vachellia farnesiana</i> Species of plant

Vachellia farnesiana, also known as Acacia farnesiana, and previously Mimosa farnesiana, commonly known as sweet acacia, huisache, casha tree, or needle bush, is a species of shrub or small tree in the legume family, Fabaceae. Its flowers are used in the perfume industry.

<i>Vachellia collinsii</i> Species of legume

Vachellia collinsii, previously Acacia collinsii, is a species of flowering plant native to Central America and parts of Africa.

<i>Vachellia tortilis</i> Species of plant

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.

<i>Vachellia erioloba</i> Species of tree native to southern Africa

Vachellia erioloba, the camel thorn, also known as the giraffe thorn, mokala tree, 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.

<i>Vachellia nilotica</i> Species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae

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.

<i>Vachellia karroo</i> Species of legume

Vachellia karroo, commonly known as the sweet thorn, common acacia, Karoo thorn, Cape gum or cockspur thorn, is a species of Vachellia, in the Mimosa sub-family (Mimosoideae) of the Fabaceae or pea family, which is native to southern Africa from southern Angola east to Mozambique, and south to South Africa.

<i>Vachellia seyal</i> Species of plant

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.

<i>Vachellia sieberiana</i> Species of legume

Vachellia sieberiana, until recently known as Acacia sieberiana, 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.

Vachellia nilotica subsp. indica is a perennial tree native to Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. It is also cultivated in Angola, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. Common names for it include babul, kikar and prickly acacia.

<i>Vachellia xanthophloea</i> Species of legume

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-tailed tree rat</span> Species of rodent native to Africa

The black-tailed tree rat, also called black-tailed acacia rat or black-tailed thallomys,, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, where its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. It is both nocturnal and arboreal and makes bulky nests in the trees, often acacias, where it feeds on leaves and buds.

<i>Vachellia drepanolobium</i> Species of legume

Vachellia drepanolobium, more commonly known as Acacia drepanolobium or 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.

<i>Vachellia</i> Genus of legumes

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.

<i>Vachellia flava</i> Species of legume

Vachellia flava, synonym Acacia ehrenbergiana, 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.

<i>Combretum apiculatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Combretum apiculatum is a species of tree in the family Combretaceae known by the common name red bushwillow. It is native to the mesic to semi-arid savanna regions of Africa, southwards of the equator.

<i>Vachellia abyssinica</i> Species of legume

Vachellia abyssinica, the flat top acacia, is a tree up to 16 m tall.

<i>Vachellia robusta</i> Species of legume

Vachellia robusta, the splendid thorn, is an Afrotropical tree species.

<i>Senegalia hereroensis</i> Species of legume

Senegalia hereroensis is a species of trees in the genus Senegalia. It is indigenous to Southern Africa, and its native range includes western Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia, and the Northern Provinces, Cape Provinces, and Free State of South Africa. It is native to Zambezian wooded grassland (savanna), and wooded grasslands of the Kalahari-Highveld regional transition zone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southwestern Arabian foothills savanna</span>

The Southwestern Arabian foothills savanna, also known as the Southwestern Arabian Escarpment shrublands and woodlands, is a desert and xeric shrubland ecoregion of the southern Arabian Peninsula, covering portions of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Oman.

References

  1. Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) & IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group (2019). "Vachellia reficiens". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2019: e.T144274527A149056372. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T144274527A149056372.en . Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  2. Kyalangalilwa B, Boatwright JS, Daru BH, Maurin O, van der Bank M (2013). "Phylogenetic position and revised classification of Acacia s.l. (Fabaceae: Mimosoideae) in Africa, including new combinations in Vachellia and Senegalia". Bot J Linn Soc. 172 (4): 500–523. doi: 10.1111/boj.12047 . hdl: 10566/3454 .
  3. 1 2 Wiegand, Kerstin; David Saltz; David Ward; Simon A. Levin (2008). "The role of size inequality in self-thinning: A pattern-oriented simulation model for arid savannas". Ecological Modelling. 210 (4): 431–445. doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2007.08.027.
  4. 1 2 Bester, F. V. (1999). "Major problem-bush species and densities in Namibia" (PDF). Agricola. 10: 1–3.
  5. 1 2 3 Ross, J. H.; Brenan, J. P. M. (1967). "Notes on Mimosoïdeae: X". Kew Bulletin . 21 (1): 67–73. doi:10.2307/4108432. JSTOR   4108432.
  6. 1 2 "Vachellia reficiens (as Acacia reficiens)". Zipcodezoo.com. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  7. International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (Vienna Code). Regnum Vegetabile 146. A.R.G. Gantner Verlag KG
  8. Maslin, B.R. 2008. Generic and subgeneric names in Acacia following retypification of the genus. Muelleria 26: 7–9.
  9. "Vachellia reficiens (Wawra & Peyr.) Kyal. & Boatwr. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science".
  10. Forest Resources Division (December 2001). "State of Forest Genetic Resources in Kenya". Working papers FGR/18E. Rome, Italy: FAO.
  11. 1 2 3 Coughenour, Michael B.; Ellis, James E.; Pop, Robert G. (1990). "Morphometric Relationships and Developmental Patterns of Acacia tortilis and Acacia reficiens in Southern Turkana, Keny". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 117 (1): 8–17. doi:10.2307/2997124. JSTOR   2997124.
  12. Sjöskog, Maja (2012). "Plants Around Gobabeb". Gobabeb Training & Research Centre. p. 101.
  13. Pakia, Mohamed. "Plant Ecology and Ethnobotany of Two Sacred Forests (Kayas) at the Kenya Coast" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2012.