Vachellia xanthophloea
Vachellia xanthophloea
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
Older trees can tolerate moderate frosts[1]. The plant often grows on alluvial, black, clay soils in the wild[1]. It prefers sandy soils[2]. The growth rate of seedlings is fast, with plants growing up to a maximum of 7 metres tall in 3 years. A growth rate of 1.5 metres per year, and 2cm in diameter, are common in young trees[3, 1]. When harvested for medicinal purposes, the bark is removed with a knife and bark collectors usually focus on larger-sized trees. The tolerance of the tree to damage is high, and usually trees recover from bark removal as well as from elephant damage. However, excessive destructive harvesting is locally common[1]. 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[1].
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. Germination of treated seed is generally fair, reaching about 70% after 2 weeks[1]. When seedlings have reached the 2-leaf stage, 6 - 8 weeks after sowing, they should be transplanted from seedling trays into nursery bags. Care should be taken not to damage the long taproot[1]. Cuttings[1]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Vachellia+xanthophloea>
Pollinators
Bees, Butterflies
References
- [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]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]PlantZAfrica.com — http://www.plantzafrica.com ↩︎An excellent site giving detailed descriptions and uses of many S. African plants.
- [4]Field Guide to the Moist Forest Trees of Tanzania. — Lovett J.C.; Ruffo C.K.; Gereau R.E.; Taplin J.R.D · Frontier · http://www.york.ac.uk/res/celp/webpages/projects/ecology/tree%20guide/introduction.htm · ISBN 1-873070-33-0 ↩︎A lovely little book giving a basic identification guide to more than 650 species of trees growing in Tanzania. It is also available to view on the internet.