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Acacia erioloba [family FABACEAE]
Date Updated: 19 August 2007
Herbarium
South African National Biodiversity Institute, Compton Herbarium, Cape Town (SAM)
Collection
Flora of Southern Africa
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of South Africa, (2003) Author: Dr J.P. Roux
Names
Acacia erioloba [family FABACEAE]
Common names
A. giraffae sensu auct. mult., non A. giraffae Willd., Enum. Hort. Berol. 1054 (1809) sensu stricto: Burch., Trav.2 : 240(1824); DC, Prodr. 2 :472 (1825); Harv. in F.C. 2 : 280 (1862); Benth. in Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. 30 : 503 (1875); Marloth in Trans. S. Afr. Phil. Soc. 5 : 271 (1889); Schinz in Mem. Herb. Boiss. 1 : 108 (1900); Sim, For. Fl. Cape Col. 213, t.58 (1907); Burtt Davy in Kew Bull. 1908 : 157 (1908); Glover in Ann. Bolus Herb. 1 : 148, t.18/1 (1915); Harms in Engl., Pflanzenw. Afr. 3, 1 : 352 (1915); Dinter in Feddes Repert. 15 : 79 (1917); Pole Evans in 5. Afr. J. Sci. 17 : figs. 35, 36 (1920); Burtt Davy in Kew Bull. 1922 : 327 (1922); Marloth, Fl. S. Afr. 2 : 54, tt. 18D, 19 (1925); Bak.f., Leg. Trop. Afr. 3 : 835 (1930); Burtt Davy, Fl. Transv. 2 : 340, fig. 59 (1932); Hutch., Botanist in S. Afr. 178, 341, 386, 412, 418, 424, 425, 481, 543, 547, cum photogr. (1946); West in Rhod. Agric. J. 47 : 206 (1950); O. B. Miller in J. S. Afr. Bot. 18 : 21 (1952); Pardy in Rhod. Agr Mimosa sp. sensu Paterson, Journeys into Country of Hottentots & Caffraria : 133, tt.16, 17 (1789). A. giraffae var. espinosa Kuntze in Jahrb. K. Bot. Gart. Mus. Berl. 4 : 264 (1886). Type: South West Africa, Hereroland, Pechuel-Loesche (B, holo. t). A. giraffae Willd., Enum. Hort. Berol. 1054 (1809). Type: Interior of the Cape Province, Herb. Willdenow 19171 (B, holo.). A. giraffae Willd. x A. haematoxylon Willd., Leistner, Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Afr. 38 : 67, 123, t.24 (1967); Ross in Bothalia 10(2) : 359(1971); Robbertse in Proc. Electron Micros. Soc. S. Afr. 3 : 29 (1973).
Information
Tree up to 15 m high or less frequently a shrub to 4 m high; trunk to 1 m in diam.; crown rounded, the branches often drooping somewhat, or flattened and spreading. Bark dark greyish-brown to blackish, rough, fissured, often flaking off in thick ± woody sections when old; young branchlets pale to dark grey- or reddish-brown to purple, sometimes as though whitewashed over a purplish background, often flaking minutely, glabrous or subglabrous, seldom pubescent. Stipules spinescent, in pairs, 0,5-5(10) cm long, usually rather stout, often thickened below and fused together basally into an enlarged "ant-gall", 1,5-2 x 2-2,5 cm, sometimes furrowed down the middle, taperÂing to a sharp point apically; other prickles absent. Leaves: petiole 0,4-1,4 cm long, adaxial gland absent; rhachis (0)1-3,5(5,5) cm long, glabrous or subglabrous, a small gland at the junction of each pinna pair; pinnae (1)2-5(6) pairs; rhachillae (1,3)1,6-3,2(4,2) cm long, glabrous or subglabrous; leaflets (6)8-15(18) pairs per pinna, 4-11,5 x (0,7)1,4-2,4(4) mm, linear-oblong to narÂrowly obovate, oblique basally, apex rounded to subacute, glabrous throughout or someÂtimes marginal cilia present, rarely pubescent below, lateral nerves prominent and conÂspicuous above and beneath. Inflorescences capitate, on axillary peduncles, solitary or fascicled, scattered along the shoots. Flowers bright golden-yellow, sessile or shortly pediÂcellate, (sometimes some flowers are male only); peduncles (1,8)2,3-4(5,5) cm long, glabrous or subglabrous, eglandular; involu-cel apical. Calyx glabrous, sometimes apices of lobes with few glandular hairs, tube 1,5-2,2 mm long, lobes up to 0,6 mm long. Corolla glabrous or apices of lobes with glandular hairs, 2,7-3,6 mm long, lobes sometimes free for most of their length. Stamen-filaments free or connate into groups basally, up to 7,5 mm long; anthers with a deciduous apical gland. Ovary 1,2-2 mm long, sessile or shortly stipitate, glabrous at first but soon becoming pubescent. Pods densely grey-velutinous all over, with numeÂrous minute dark reddish-brown to purplish glands particularly when young, (4)6-13 cm long, 1,8-5 cm wide, 0,8-2 cm thick, indehiscent, semi-woody, frequently semi-lunate to suborbicular, sometimes curled almost into a circle, apex rounded to acute or beaked, spongy within, seeds irregularly scattered but separated by transverse partitions. Seeds dark reddish-brown, 8-14 x 7-10 mm, lenticular to elliptic, sometimes scarcely compressed; areole 3-9 x 2-5,5 mm. Tree to 7 m high; crown rounded, spreading, branches usually drooping someÂwhat; habit resembling that of A. erioloba. Bark dark greyish-brown to blackish, rough; young branchlets grey or reddish-brown to purplish, sometimes appearing as though whitewashed over a purplish background, glabrous to densely grey-tomentellous, glanÂdular or eglandular. Stipules spinescent, in pairs, 0,3-5 cm long, slender but usually stouter than in A. haematoxylon, never inflated as in A. erioloba. Leaves distinctly bipinnate, sparingly to densely grey-tomentelÂlous: petiole 2-9 mm long, adaxial gland absent; rhachis 0,9-4,8 cm long, with or without minute scattered glands, a small yellowish-brown gland often present at the junction of each pinna pair; pinnae 3-12 pairs; rhachillae 0,4-2,2 cm long, glandular or eglandular; leaflets greyish, 11-25 pairs per pinna, 1-4 x 0,4-1,1 mm, linear to linear-oblong, often slightly falcate, apex rounded to subacute, sparingly to densely puberulous above and below, lateral nerves not prominent. Inflorescences capitate, on axillary peduncles, solitary or sometime
Habitat
Unfortunately the familiar name A. giraffae Willd. can no longer be applied to this species (see Ross in Bothalia 11,4: 443,1975). This convincing hybrid is of great interest and a fuller account of it appears in Bothalia 10 : 359 (1971).
Use
27. Acacia erioloba E. Mey., Comm. 1 : 171 (1836), non A. erioloba Edgw. in J. Asiat. Soc. Beng. 16 : 1215 (1847); Harv. in F.C. 2 : 280 (1862); Engl, in Bot. Jahrb. 10 : 22 (1888); Ross in Bothalia 11(4) : 444 (1975). Type from Namaqualand (whereÂabouts unknown); Transvaal, Wolmarans-stad Distr., between Kommandodrif and Makwassie, /. W. Morris 1042 (K, neo.!). 29. Acacia erioloba E. Mey. x Acacia haematoxylon Willd. Ross in Bothalia 11(4) : 444 (1975).
Range
Found in Angola, South West Africa, Botswana, Zambia, south-western Rhodesia, the Transvaal, western Orange Free State and northern Cape Province. Occurs frequently on the Kalahari sands and in other areas where sandy soils are prevalent; in dry woodland, bush or thornveld. Often the dominant species in the Kalahari thornveld. In very dry areas it occurs along watercourses and in other situations where underground water is available. Restricted to the northern Cape Province. Occurs on the Kalahari sands, often on the flats of loose sand between the hills; in dry woodland, bush or thornveld. Although specimens are relatively wideÂspread in the northern Cape, they are nowhere common. Usually only a solitary plant is found or, at most, five or six individuals.
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