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Senegalia galpinii
Fabaceae FAMILY

Senegalia galpinii

Senegalia galpinii

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
0/5

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.

Cultivation Details

HabitDeciduous Tree
GrowthFast

Older trees can tolerate some frost, though harsher frosts can cause die-back[1, 2]. Requires a sunny position[3]. The plant is most common on loamy or clayey soils in the wild[1, 2]. Established plants are drought tolerant[3]. Young trees grow fast. In Zimbabwe the average heights of planted trees under conditions of frequent drought were 3 metres after 3 years and 5 metres after 9 years, with average bole diameters of 10cm after 3 years and 16cm after 9 years[1]. In 2 locations in Madagascar, at 770 metres elevation with a mean temperature of 21°c and an annual rainfall of 1,150 mm, and at 100 metres elevation with a mean temperature of 27°c and an annual rainfall of 1,600 mm, 35-years-old planted trees had a mean bole diameter of 26cm and 32cm, respectively (maximum 74 cm), and a mean height of 25 metres (maximum 30 metres)[1]. Trees coppice well, especially when young[1]. The tree is comparatively long-lived[1]. The root system is fairly extensive and so the tree should not be planted too close to buildings[3]. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[4].

Propagation

Seed - it has a hard seedcoat and may benefit from scarification before sowing to speed up germination. This can usually be done by pouring a small amount of nearly boiling water on the seeds (being careful not to cook them!) and then soaking them for 12 - 24 hours in warm water. By this time they should have imbibed moisture and swollen - if they have not, then carefully make a nick in the seedcoat (being careful not to damage the embryo) and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Senegalia+galpinii>

Pollinators

Bees, Wasps

References

  1. [1]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
  2. [2]African Flowering Plants Database — Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques. · http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/recherche.php ↩︎Contains information on over 150,000 plant names (including synonyms) giving a description and habitat, plus a distribution map.
  3. [3]PlantZAfrica.com — http://www.plantzafrica.com ↩︎An excellent site giving detailed descriptions and uses of many S. African plants.
  4. [4]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  5. [5]The Useful Native Plants of Australia. — Maiden J.H. · Turner & Co.; London. · 1889 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎Terse details of the uses of many Australian plants and other species naturalised, or at least growing, in Australia. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  6. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎