Fabaceae FAMILY

Senegalia ataxacantha

Edibility

0/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

Especially in times of drought, many Acacia species can concentrate high levels of the toxin Hydrogen cyanide in their foliage, making them dangerous for herbivores to eat.

Botanical Description

Senegalia ataxacantha is a spiny, multi-stemmed, woody plant that can be a scrambling shrub growing 3 - 5 metres tall; or can adopt a more climbing habit with stems up to 15 metres long that climb into the surrounding vegetation; or can sometimes become more tree-like, growing up to 10 metres tall with a bole 20 - 30cm in diameter[ 295 Title PlantZAfrica.com Publication Author Website http://www.plantzafrica.com Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent site giving detailed descriptions and uses of many S. African plants. , 328 Title African Flowering Plants Database Publication Author Website http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/recherche.php Publisher Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques. Year 0 ISBN Description Contains information on over 150,000 plant names (including synonyms) giving a description and habitat, plus a distribution map. ]. The tree is harvested from the wild for local use as a source of materials and medicines. It is often planted to form dense, impenetrable hedges.

Habitat & Origin

Origintropical

Native RangeAfrica - drier areas from Mauritania to Sudan, Uganda and Kenya; south to Angola, Namibia to Mozambique and S. Africa.

HabitatIn drier areas, woodlands, wooded grassland, locally common on Kalahari and similar sands, sometimes in lowveld in riverine areas, forming thickets (Zimbabwe); riverine fringing vegetation; at elevations up to 1,200 metres[ 328 Title African Flowering Plants Database Publication Author Website http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/recherche.php Publisher Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques. Year 0 ISBN Description Contains information on over 150,000 plant names (including synonyms) giving a description and habitat, plus a distribution map. ].