Home | > | List of families | > | Fabaceae subfamily Mimosoideae | > | Faidherbia | > | albida |
Synonyms: |
Acacia albida Delile |
Common names: | Ana-tree (English) Apple-ring acacia (English) Musangu (Shona) Musenga (Shona) Umpumbu (Ndebele) Winter thorn (English) |
Frequency: | |
Status: | Native |
Description: |
Large deciduous tree. Bark greenish-grey; young branches, whitish, zig-zagging between the nodes. Thorns straight, up to 2 cm long, paired at the nodes. Leaves with 3-10 pairs of pinnae; leaflets in 6-23 pairs per pinna, grey-green; rhachis with glands between each pair of pinnae, no gland on the petiole. Flowers in axillary spikes up to 14 cm, creamy-white. Pods reddish-brown to orange when ripe, characteristically curled and twisted like an apple-peel, indehiscent. |
Notes: | This tree is very unusual in that it is leafless throughout the rainy season and comes into leaf during the dry winter months. |
Derivation of specific name: | albida: whitish, referring to the branchlets |
Habitat: | Occurring on alluvial soils in woodland and wooded grassland, usually near water. |
Altitude range: (metres) | Up to 1100 m |
Flowering time: | May - Sep |
Worldwide distribution: | Widespread in tropical Africa as far as KwaZulu-Natal, Also in Egypt and on the Arabian Peninsula. |
Zimbabwe distribution: | N,W,C,E,S |
Growth form(s): | Tree. |
Endemic status: | |
Red data list status: | |
Insects associated with this species: | Deudorix antalus (Food plant) |
Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
Images last updated: | Sunday 11 October 2020 |
Literature: |
Brenan, J.P.M. (1970). Mimosoideae Flora Zambesiaca 3(1) Pages 63 - 65. as Acacia albida (Includes a picture). Burrows, J.E. & Willis, C.K. (eds) (2005). Plants of the Nyika Plateau Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 31 SABONET, Pretoria Page 210. as Acacia albida Burrows, J.E., Burrows, S.M., Lötter, M.C. & Schmidt, E. (2018). Trees and Shrubs Mozambique Publishing Print Matters (Pty), Cape Town. Page 185. (Includes a picture). Curtis, B.A. & Mannheimer, C.A. (2005). Tree Atlas of Namibia National Botanic Research Institute, Windhoek Pages 130 - 131. (Includes a picture). Drummond, R.B. (1972). A list of Rhodesian Legumes. Kirkia 8(2) Page 213. as Acacia albida Drummond, R.B. (1975). A list of trees, shrubs and woody climbers indigenous or naturalised in Rhodesia. Kirkia 10(1) Page 240. As Acacia albida Mannheimer, C. & Curtis B. (2009). Le Roux and Müller's Field Guide to the Trees and Shrubs of Namibia Macmillan Education, Windhoek, Namibia. Pages 122 - 123. (Includes a picture). Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 45. Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 66. Steedman, E.C. (1933). Some Trees, Shrubs and Lianes of Southern Rhodesia. Page 12. as Acacia albida Timberlake, J.R. & Childes, S.L. (2004). Biodiversity of the Four Corners Area: Technical Reviews Volume Two (Chapter 5-15) Appendix 5-1: Plant Checklist Occasional Publications in Biodiversity 15 Page 210. |
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