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Acacia gerrardii Benth. |
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Leguminosae A. hebecladoides Harms. Sebeldit, ol debbe (Kenya). Tree, usually 3 to 15 m high, with a flat, umbrella-shaped crown and rough grey bark, fissured. Young branches densely pubescent, the epidermis splitting to reveal a rusty red inner layer. Spines straight, short, about 1 cm long. Leaves rather large; pinnae five to ten pairs, leaflets 12 to 23 pairs, 3 to 7.5 mm long, 1 to 2 mm wide; flowers white, scented, occurring in globose heads. Pods large and sickle-shaped, dehiscent, 7 to 16 cm long, 0.6 to 1.1 cm wide. Seeds olive-brown, compressed, 9 to 12 mm long and 7 mm wide (Brennan 1959). Africa from Natal to the Sudan, westward to Nigeria. Common in the Acacia-Themeda zone at altitudes from 1 230 to 2 000 m. Often occurs in places with impeded drainage. It is too tall for a browse plant, and branches are lopped to feed cattle and goats when other feed is not available. The leaves contain over 17 percent crude protein (Dougall and Bogdan, 1958).Where control is needed, stands can be thinned by digging out the stumps or spraying the cut surface of the stumps of foliage with a picloram/2,4-D mixture (Ivens, 1970). A single burning or spraying of the cut stump will exert some control.
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