Acacia laeta R. Br. ex Benth.

Leguminosae

Common names

Akazie, Gay acacia

Synonyms

A. trintigniani A. Chev.

Description

Shrub or small tree resembling A. senegal with a greyish-green bark looking blackish from a distance, with a pink slash. Leaves are bipinnate, 1-4 cm long, with 2-5 pairs of pinnae and 2-5 pairs of leaflets per pinna ; leaflets are asymetrically oblong 0.6-1.2 x 0.3-0.5 cm, glaucescent and more or less glabrous. A. laeta is distinct from the other Sahelian species of the sub-genus. Aculeiferum (A. dudgeoni, A. senegal, A. gourmaensis, A. mellifera) by its leaves ; these are bipinnate with 3-5 pairs of fairly large pinnate leaflets and 2-5 pairs of pinnae, the leaflets being clearly separate from each other and asymetric. Thorns in pairs of recurved axillary prickles, with sometimes a third prickle recurved forward, when the latter is missing it is replaced by a leaf. Flowers are very fragrant and white-cream in colour, set out in 3-8 cm long spikes, pedunculate and disposed in triplets. In contrast to its relative A. senegal the pods are apiculate, a character that permits easy differentiation between the two rather similar species.

Water

Rainfall requirements are, as for A. senegal, 200-800 mm MAR.

Soil

Soil requirements are not very specific, this species being quite hardy and drought-tolerant.

Distribution

The distribution is similar to that of A. senegal i.e. the whole Sahel and North Sudan ecozones, but A. laeta, however, is very rare or absent west of the Niger loop (Timbuctoo). East of central Mali it is associated with A. senegal and hybridizes with it, also common in East African arid and semi-arid lands.

Products & uses

Gum production is said to be of a lesser quantity and lower quality than from A. senegal, but it is, however, collected and marketed ; other uses are excellent fuel-wood and charcoal,  browse, dead fencing for bush corrals ("Zeribas" = "Bomas" = "Grichas"), round service wood, poles, fence-posts ; stem bark is used for making ropes and repairing calabashes, in medicine it is considered as an analgesic, it is also used to soften hides before tanning and to "repell mischievous spirits". A. laeta has been sucessfully utilized in reafforestation programmes.

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 ; Catinot 1967 ; Bartha 1970 ; Geerling 1982/88 ; Giffard 1966 ; Giffard 1975 ; Delwaulle 1978 ; Delwaulle 1979 ; Von Maydell 1983/86 ; Baumer 1983 ; Burkill 1995 ; Wickens & al. 1995 ; Dommergues et al. 1999.