Fabaceae
Vachellia

Vachellia erioloba (E.Mey.) P.J.H.Hurter

First published in D.J.Mabberley, Plant-book, ed. 3: 1021 (2008)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is S. Tropical & S. Africa. It is a tree and grows primarily in the desert or dry shrubland biome.

Descriptions

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/168997601/169318232

Conservation
LC - least concern
[IUCN]

Leguminosae, J.P.M. Brenan. Flora Zambesiaca 3:1. 1970

Morphology General Habit
Tree (4·5)6-16(22) m. high, often rather large, rounded or flat-topped with a spread up to 18 m., bark deeply furrowed, grey-black to blackish-brown; young branchlets glabrous to rather densely spreading-pubescent, eglandular.
Morphology Leaves Stipules
Stipules spinescent, up to 5(8·5) cm. long, often rather stout, often thickened below and fused together at the base into an enlarged “ant-gall” up to c. 1·5-2 x 2-2·5 cm., furrowed or not down the middle; other prickles absent.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves with a small sessile gland at the junction of each of the (1)2-5 pairs of pinnae; no petiolar gland; leaflets (6)8-15 pairs, 4·5-13 x 1·5-4·5 mm., glabrous to pubescent especially on the margins, entire, eglandular, rounded to subacute but not spinulose-mucronate at the apex; lateral nerves ± prominent and visible beneath.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers bright golden-yellow, in axillary often long-pedunculate heads 8-12 mm. in diam. scattered along shoots usually of the previous season, rarely of the current one; involucel strictly apical.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx 2·5 mm. long, glabrous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla 3-3·5 mm. long, glabrous or nearly so.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pods indehiscent, (4)6-11 x 2·5-4·7 cm., straight to falcate, very densely grey-velutinous all over.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds deep-chestnut-brown, 8-13 x 7-10 mm., irregular in size and shape, sometimes scarcely compressed; areole variable in size, 3-6·5 x 2-4 mm.
[FZ]

International Legume Database and Information Service

Conservation
Not Threatened
Ecology
Africa: Zambezian woodland, Karroo-Namib bushland and thicket., Kalahari-Highveld regional transition zone; wooded grassland.
Morphology General Habit
Perennial, Not climbing, Shrub/Tree
[ILDIS]

Uses

Use
Wood
[ILDIS]

Common Names

English
Camel thorn, Giraffe thorn, Mimosa, Thorn tree
unknown
camelthorn, kameel doorn, kamelldoring

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • EBC Common Names

    • Common Names from Kew's Economic Botany Collection https://www.kew.org/science/collections-and-resources/collections/economic-botany-collection

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    • Flora Zambesiaca
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • IUCN Categories

    • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • International Legume Database and Information Service

    • International Legume Database and Information Service (ILDIS) V10.39 Nov 2011
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images

  • Plants and People Africa

    • Common Names from Plants and People Africa http://www.plantsandpeopleafrica.com/
    • © Plants and People Africa http://www.plantsandpeopleafrica.com http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/