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  1. Family: Fabaceae Lindl.
    1. Genus: Vachellia Wight & Arn.

      1. Vachellia erioloba (E.Mey.) P.J.H.Hurter

        This species is accepted, and its native range is S. Tropical & S. Africa.

    [FZ]

    Leguminosae, J.P.M. Brenan. Flora Zambesiaca 3:1. 1970

    Habit
    Tree (4·5)6-16(22) m. high, often rather large, rounded or flat-topped with a spread up to 18 m., bark deeply furrowed, grey-black to blackish-brown; young branchlets glabrous to rather densely spreading-pubescent, eglandular.
    Stipules
    Stipules spinescent, up to 5(8·5) cm. long, often rather stout, often thickened below and fused together at the base into an enlarged “ant-gall” up to c. 1·5-2 x 2-2·5 cm., furrowed or not down the middle; other prickles absent.
    Leaves
    Leaves with a small sessile gland at the junction of each of the (1)2-5 pairs of pinnae; no petiolar gland; leaflets (6)8-15 pairs, 4·5-13 x 1·5-4·5 mm., glabrous to pubescent especially on the margins, entire, eglandular, rounded to subacute but not spinulose-mucronate at the apex; lateral nerves ± prominent and visible beneath.
    Flowers
    Flowers bright golden-yellow, in axillary often long-pedunculate heads 8-12 mm. in diam. scattered along shoots usually of the previous season, rarely of the current one; involucel strictly apical.
    Calyx
    Calyx 2·5 mm. long, glabrous.
    Corolla
    Corolla 3-3·5 mm. long, glabrous or nearly so.
    Fruits
    Pods indehiscent, (4)6-11 x 2·5-4·7 cm., straight to falcate, very densely grey-velutinous all over.
    Seeds
    Seeds deep-chestnut-brown, 8-13 x 7-10 mm., irregular in size and shape, sometimes scarcely compressed; areole variable in size, 3-6·5 x 2-4 mm.
    [ILDIS]

    International Legume Database and Information Service

    Conservation
    Not Threatened
    Ecology
    Africa: Zambezian woodland, Karroo-Namib bushland and thicket., Kalahari-Highveld regional transition zone; wooded grassland.
    Habit
    Perennial, Not climbing, Shrub/Tree

    Images

    Distribution

    Native to:

    Angola, Botswana, Cape Provinces, Caprivi Strip, Free State, Namibia, Northern Provinces, Zambia, Zimbabwe

    Common Names
    English
    Camel thorn, Giraffe thorn, Mimosa, Thorn tree

    Vachellia erioloba (E.Mey.) P.J.H.Hurter appears in other Kew resources:

    Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status
    Jan 1, 1965 Richards, H.M. [14716], Botswana Acacia giraffae K000489597
    Jan 1, 1965 Pole-Evans, I.B. [2483], Botswana Acacia giraffae K000489596
    Jan 1, 1965 Baines, T. [s.n.], Botswana Acacia giraffae K000489600
    Swynnerton, C.F.M. [4039], Botswana Acacia giraffae K000489599
    Mavi, S. [1164], Botswana Acacia giraffae K000489595
    Yalala, A.M. [136], Botswana Acacia giraffae K000489594
    Feb 4, 1974 Acocks, J.P.H. [13190], South Africa Acacia erioloba K000244431
    Feb 4, 1974 Morris, J. W. [1042], South Africa Acacia erioloba K000244430 neotype
    Gossweiler, J. [11032], Angola Acacia erioloba K001276650
    unknown [2300], Botswana Acacia erioloba K000244427
    Burchell [1952], South Africa Acacia erioloba K000244426 Unknown type material
    Burchell [1952], South Africa Acacia erioloba K000244429 Unknown type material
    Burchell [s 254x], Botswana Acacia erioloba K000244425
    Burchell [2402-3], Botswana Acacia erioloba K000244428
    Long, D.G. [104], Botswana Acacia erioloba K000489598
    Hansen, O.J. [3176], Botswana Acacia erioloba K000489601
    Cook, F.E.M. [90], Botswana Acacia erioloba K000489593

    First published in D.J.Mabberley, Plant-book, ed. 3: 1021 (2008)

    Literature

    Kew Backbone Distributions
    • Figueiredo, E. & Smith, G.F. (2008). Plants of Angola Strelitzia 22: 1-279. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
    • Lock, J.M. (1989). Legumes of Africa a check-list: 1-619. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
    • Brenan, J.P.M. (1970). Flora Zambesiaca 3(1): 1-153. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

    Sources

    Flora Zambesiaca
    Flora Zambesiaca
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

    Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
    'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

    International Legume Database and Information Service
    International Legume Database and Information Service (ILDIS) V10.39 Nov 2011
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

    Kew Backbone Distributions
    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2019. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

    Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2019. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

    Plants and People Africa
    Common Names from Plants and People Africa http://www.plantsandpeopleafrica.com/
    © Plants and People Africa http://www.plantsandpeopleafrica.com http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/