Acacia erythrocalyx Brenan.

Leguminosae

Synonyms

• Acacia pennata (L.) Willd.

Common names

Acacia, Biswal

Description

Climber vine or scrambling shrub, smooth brownish-grey bark with papery scales and reddish slash. Twigs angular, pubescent with lenticels set in lines. Short hooked thorns (up to 0.6 cm long) irregularly disposed along the branchlets. Leaves alternate, bipinnate, 8-12 cm long, with 10-16 pairs of pinnae having 20-50 pairs of leaflets each. Leaflets 0.3-0.5 x 0.04-0.1 cm, glabrous or almost so. Flowers white, set in globulous heads 0.5-1.0 cm in diameter, with a red-dotted calyx. Pod flattened, oblongate 9-15 x 1.3-5 cm, glabrous, brown-red.

Habitat

Grows on termite mounds, along river banks, and in well watered places.

Distribution

Found in the Sudanian zone, and Southern Sahel of Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Burkina Faso. It is a fairly rare Sahelo-Sudanian endemic of West Africa.

Products & uses

Not documented.

Links for the genus:

• The WattleWeb: Acacias from A-Z
• Seed treatment and inoculation: Instructions for acacias and other NFT (Nitrogen Fixing Trees)
• Sustainable livestock production: Indigenous knowledge in utilization of local trees and shrubs in central Tanzania

References

Hutchinson & al 1958, Geerling 1982/88 ; Von Maydell 1983/86 ; Burkill 1995.