Vachellia sieberiana

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Paperbark acacia
Kirstenbosch - Acacia sieberiana.jpg
In Kirstenbosch, Cape Town
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Clade: Mimosoid clade
Genus: Vachellia
Species:
V. sieberiana
Binomial name
Vachellia sieberiana
(DC.) Kyal. & Boatwr. 2013 [1]
Varieties [2]
  • Vachellia sieberiana var. sieberiana(DC.) Kyal. & Boatwr.
  • Vachellia sieberiana var. villosa(A.Chev.) Kyal. & Boatwr.
  • Vachellia sieberiana var. woodii(Burtt Davy) Kyal. & Boatwr.
Synonyms [3]
  • Acacia abyssinica sensu auct.
  • Acacia amboensis Schinz
  • Acacia davyi sensu auct.
  • Acacia purpurascens Vatke
  • Acacia sieberianaDC. [4]
  • Acacia sieberiana subsp. vermoesenii(De Wild.)Troupin
  • Acacia vermoeseniiDe Wild.
  • Vachellia sieberiana(DC.) Ali 2014 [5]

Vachellia sieberiana, until recently known as Acacia sieberiana [6] [7] [8] and commonly known as the paperbark thorn or paperbark acacia, is a tree native to southern Africa and introduced into Pakistan. [3] 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. [9] It is not listed as being a threatened species. [3]

Contents

Uses

Vachellia sieberiana is valued largely as a source of forage, medicine and wood. The inner bark is a source of fibre purposes such as stringing beads [9] ). The gum is edible) and both livestock and game animals browse the tree and feed on the dropped pods, spreading viable seeds in their dung. The flowers of the tree make good forage for bees and bee hives are put directly in the trees to exploit the resource. [9] The leaves of the tree commonly release toxic chemical compounds when the tree has been heavily browsed, some of the compounds may release hydrogen cyanide when ingested, which may be lethal to cattle. The fallen pods and foliage can provide lifesaving forage during dry times of the year. [9]

The gum of the tree is used as food, as an adhesive, and as an ingredient in making ink.

Traditional medicinal uses

In Africa, the bark or root is used to treat urinary tract inflammation. The bark has astringent properties and it is used to treat colds, cough, and childhood fever. [9] According to the World AgroForestry Centre,

"A decoction of the root is taken as remedy for stomach-ache. The bark, leaves and gums are used to treat tapeworm, bilharzia, haemorrhage, orchitis, colds, diarrhoea, gonorrhoea, kidney problems, syphilis, ophthalmia, rheumatism and disorders of the circulatory system. It is also used as an astringent. The pods serve as an emollient, and the roots for stomach-ache, acne, tapeworms, urethral problems, oedema and dropsy." [9]

Nitrogen fixation

Vachellia sieberiana is a legume and like many legumes it hosts Rhizobium bacteria in its roots. The bacteria fix nitrogen gas from the air and, without requiring nitrogen fertilizer or soil nitrates, they convert it into nitrogen compounds necessary for plant nutrition. Ultimately, surrounding plants also benefit from the increase in available nitrogen, which means that plants such as Vachellia species are of particular ecological importance. [9]

Tannin

Tannin is found in the bark and seed pods. [9]

Wood

The wood is fairly hard and it is used for furniture, handles for implements and tools for grinding grain manually. [9] The wood of V. sieberiana has a density of about 655 kg/m³. [10]

Ecology and conservation

This tree is widespread in its natural habitat and is not threatened. It is browsed upon by livestock and game such as elephant and giraffe.

Related Research Articles

<i>Senegalia senegal</i> Species of deciduous tree

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

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. Its flowers are used in the perfume industry.

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

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<i>Acaciella angustissima</i> Species of plant

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<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 horrida</i> Species of legume

Vachellia horrida is a low spreading shrub or sometimes tree native to both the wet and dry scrublands of tropical to subtropical East Africa. Common names for it are Cape gum, Karroo Thorn and dev-babul. It is also found elsewhere in Africa, Asia, India and South America. It frequently has stipular spines 9.5 cm long. V. horrida is an important browse plant in the tropics, particularly during the dry season.

<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, 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>Acacia penninervis</i> Species of legume

Acacia penninervis, commonly known as mountain hickory wattle, or blackwood, is a perennial shrub or tree is an Acacia belonging to subgenus Phyllodineae, that is native to eastern Australia.

<i>Acacia mangium</i> Species of legume

Acacia mangium is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to northeastern Queensland in Australia, the Western Province of Papua New Guinea, Papua, and the eastern Maluku Islands. Common names include black wattle, hickory wattle, mangium, and forest mangrove. Its uses include environmental management and wood.

<i>Albizia lebbeck</i> Species of legume

Albizia lebbeck is a species of Albizia, native to Indomalaya, New Guinea and Northern Australia and widely cultivated and naturalised in other tropical and subtropical regions. English names for it include Sirisa, Siris,lebbeck, lebbek tree, flea tree, frywood, koko and woman's tongue tree. The latter name is a play on the sound the seeds make as they rattle inside the pods. Being one of the most widespread and common species of Albizia worldwide, it is often simply called siris or Sirisa though this name may refer to any locally common member of the genus.

<i>Faidherbia</i> Genus of plants

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 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.

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

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

Vachellia schaffneri, the twisted acacia or Schaffner's acacia, is a tree native to Mexico and the United States (Texas).

<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 reficiens</i> Species of legume

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.

<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.

A paperbark tree usually refers to one of many species of trees in the Melaleuca genus, mostly found in Australia.

References

  1. 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" (PDF). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 172 (4): 500–523. doi: 10.1111/boj.12047 .
  2. ILDIS List
  3. 1 2 3 ILDIS LegumeWeb
  4. de Candolle, A. P. (1825). Prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis, sive, Enumeratio contracta ordinum generum specierumque plantarum huc usque cognitarium, juxta methodi naturalis, normas digesta. Volume 2. Paris: Treuttel et Würtz. p. 463 of Volume 2. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  5. Ali SI. (2014). "The Genus Acacia s.l. in Pakistan" (PDF). Pak J Bot . 46 (1): 1–4.
  6. "Acacia sieberiana". The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  7. Hyde, Mark; et al. "Acacia sieberiana DC. var. woodii (Burtt Davy) Keay & Brenan". Flora of Zimbabwe. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  8. Joffe, Pitta. "Vachellia sieberiana DC. var. woodii (Burtt Davy) Keay & Brenan". PlantZAfrica.com. SANBI. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 World Agroforestry Centre Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
  10. "Tables(Cont. a)". www.fao.org. Retrieved 2017-08-03.