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Fabaceae FAMILY

Vachellia leucophloea

Vachellia leucophloea

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
1/5

Safety & Hazards

The seed of many Acacia species, including this one, is edible and highly nutritious, and can be eaten safely as a fairly major part of the diet. Not all species are edible, however, and some can contain moderate levels of toxins[1]. Especially when harvesting from the wild, especial care should be taken to ensure correct identification of any plants harvested for food[PFAF]. 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

A tree of tropical and subtropical climates, it is found at elevations ranging from sea level to 800 metres[2]. Tolerant of a wide range of temperatures, succeeding in areas with a mean annual temperature in the range 6 - 49°c[2]. It grows best in areas with a mean annual rainfall of 400 - 1,500mm, succeeding even in areas where the dry season may persist for 9-10 months[2]. It can succeed in humid areas with a rainfall of 2,000mm, and also in semi arid areas with only 600mm of rain[3]. Succeeds on sands, infertile rocky soils, limestone soils, organic clays and in alluvial areas[2]. Requires a sunny position and a well-drained soil[3]. On fertile soils, A. Leucophloea seedlings grow quickly, up to 60 cm a year. Under irrigation, height growth may reach 7 - 10 m in 5 - 6 years[2]. Seedlings are light demanding and sensitive to weed competition, fire and frost. In order to exploit sufficient soil moisture, seedling root growth generally exceeds shoot growth. The trees produce a deep taproot and, once established, are very tolerant of drought, fire and frost[2, 3]. Trees respond well to coppicing[2]. 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]. It fixes atmospheric nitrogen through a symbiotic relationship with Rhizobium bacteria which enables it to survive on infertile sites[2].

Propagation

Seed - pre-treatment is necessary to break the hard seed coat. To encourage uniform germination, seed should be scarified either by submerging in boiled water that is allowed to cool for 24 hours, or by soaking in sulphuric acid for 10-30 minutes followed by soaking in cool water for 24 hours[2]. The visibly swollen seeds should be sown immediately[2]. Germination can still take 75 days[3]. Viability of dried seeds can be maintained for up to 2 years at room temperature[2]. When sown outdoors, the seed should be sown at a depth of 1 cm in lines 20-25 cm apart. Germination begins within a week[2]. Plants can be established by direct sowing, stump sprouts or seedlings. Direct sowing is preferred because the large roots of seedlings may hamper transplanting[2]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Vachellia+leucophloea>

Pollinators

Insects

References

  1. [1]Acacia in Australia: Ethnobotany and Potential Food Crop — Lister P.R.; Holford P.; Haigh T.; Morrison D.A. · ASHS Press, Alexandria, VA. · 1996 · https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1996/v3-toc.html · ISBN 0-9615027-3-8 ↩︎
  2. [2]World Agroforesty Centre — http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ ↩︎An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc.
  3. [3]Plant Resources of Southeast Asia — http://proseanet.org/ ↩︎Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
  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]Flora Malesiana Series 1 — Various · Nationaal Herbarium Nederiand, Universiteit Leiden branch · http://www.archive.org ↩︎A massive treatment of the plants of the Malaysian Archipelago. Much of it has been made available to download from the Internet
  6. [6]Cornucopia II — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications, California. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9628087-2-5 ↩︎The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
  7. [7]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.
  8. [8]Useful Fiber Plants of the World — Dodge C.R. · USDA; Washington. · 1897 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ ↩︎A rather dated, but very comprehensive catalogue of fibre plants from around the world. The book can be downloaded from the Internet.
  9. [9]A Manual of the Timbers of the World — Howard A.L. · MacMillan and Co.; London. · 1934 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎An excellent and comprehensive book on timbers. Rather dated, but still a main source of information for many of the less known woods. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  10. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎