Home | > | List of families | > | Fabaceae subfamily Mimosoideae | > | Acacia | > | nebrownii |
Synonyms: |
Acacia rogersii Burtt Davy Vachellia nebrownii (Burtt Davy) Seigler & Ebinger |
Common names: | Water acacia (English) Water thorn (English) |
Frequency: | Not widespread but locally common. |
Status: | Native |
Description: |
Usually a densely spiny, multi-stemmed, shrub, up to 3 m tall, with slender stems and branches. Young branches orange-red or purplish with shiny smooth bark, thinly peeling, and scattered reddish glands. Spines very white, straight, up to 6 cm long, in pairs at the nodes. Leaves clustered between the spines, short, up to c. 3 × 2 cm, usually with only 1 or 2 pairs of pinnae; leaflets in 3-5 pairs per pinna, up to 8 mm long, yellow-green rounded at the apex, sometimes with a small mucronate tip. Flowers in bright yellow spherical heads at the nodes, sweetly scented. Pods small, usually less than 5 cm long, curved, covered with small reddish glands, dehiscent. |
Notes: | |
Derivation of specific name: | nebrownii: named after botanist N.E. Brown, who did much work on African plants at Kew but never visited the continent. |
Habitat: | Occurring along dry watercourses, in grassland and scrub, often forming thickets. |
Altitude range: (metres) | Up to 900 m |
Flowering time: | Sep - Nov |
Worldwide distribution: | Angola(?), Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and just into northern South Africa. |
Zimbabwe distribution: | W,S |
Growth form(s): | |
Endemic status: | |
Red data list status: | |
Insects associated with this species: | |
Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
Images last updated: | Tuesday 31 July 2007 |
Literature: |
Brenan, J.P.M. (1970). Mimosoideae Flora Zambesiaca 3(1) Page 92. Drummond, R.B. (1972). A list of Rhodesian Legumes. Kirkia 8(2) Page 214. Drummond, R.B. (1975). A list of trees, shrubs and woody climbers indigenous or naturalised in Rhodesia. Kirkia 10(1) Page 241. 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 44. Setshogo, M.P. (2005). Preliminary checklist of the plants of Botswana. Sabonet Report no. 37. Sabonet, Pretoria and Gaborone Page 60. Timberlake, J., Fagg, C. & Barnes, R. (1999). Field Guide to the Acacias of Zimbabwe CBC Publishing, Harare Pages 88 - 89. (Includes a picture). |
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