Family:
Fabaceae Lindl.
Genus:
Vachellia Wight & Arn.

Vachellia sieberiana (DC.) Kyal. & Boatwr.

This species is accepted, and its native range is Tropical & S. Africa.

[FTEA]

Leguminosae, J. B. Gillett, R. M. Polhill & B. Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1971

Morphology General Habit
Tree 5–18 m. high; bark usually grey and rough on trunk, sometimes light brown, or yellowish and flaking especially on branches.
Morphology Branches
Young branchlets glabrous to tomentose, eglandular, green to grey or yellowish, later grey; outer bark then usually flaking away to expose an olive or yellow inner layer.
Morphology Leaves Stipules
Stipules spinescent, straight, up to 9(–12.5) cm. or more long, whitish; “ant-galls” and other prickles absent.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves:rhachis 2.5–10 cm. long; pinnae mostly 6–23(–35) pairs; leaflets 14–45(–52) pairs, 2–6.5 mm. long, (0.5–)0.6–1.5 mm. wide, glabrous to ciliate, narrowly oblong, rounded to obtuse at apex; midrib, and sometimes small lateral nerves also, somewhat prominent on both surfaces.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers white or very pale yellow, in heads on axillary peduncles 1.5–5 cm. long which are variable in indumentum but eglandular, and whose involucel is normally apical or in upper half of peduncle.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pods (Fig. 17/57, p. 68) straight or sometimes ± falcate, flattened but thick and almost woody in texture when dry, very slow in dehiscing, (8–)9–21 cm. long, (1.5–)1.7–3.5 cm. wide, ± smooth and glossy, without raised veins, glabrous or somewhat hairy.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds olive-grey, smooth, elliptic to subcircular, compressed, 9–12 mm. long, 7–8 mm. wide; areole 7–9.5 mm. long, 5–6 mm. wide.

[ILDIS]

International Legume Database and Information Service

Conservation
Not Threatened
Ecology
Africa: Sudanian woodland, Sudanian wooded grassland, Lake Victoria regional mosaic; wooded grassland, Zambezian wooded grassland, Zambezian woodland
Morphology General Habit
Perennial, Not climbing, Tree

[FZ]

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

Morphology General Habit
Tree 5-18(25) m. high; bark usually grey and rough on the trunk, sometimes light-brown, or yellowish and flaking, especially on the branches; young branchlets glabrous to tomentose, eglandular, green to grey or yellowish, later grey; outer bark then usually flaking away to expose an olive or yellow inner layer.
Morphology Leaves Stipules
Stipules spinescent, whitish, up to 9(12.5) cm. or more long, straight; “ant-galls” and other prickles absent.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves: rhachis 2.5-10 cm. long; pinnae mostly 6-23(35) pairs; leaflets 14-45(52) pairs, 2-6.5 x (0.5)0.6-1.5 mm., glabrous to ciliate, narrowly oblong, rounded to obtuse at the apex, midrib, and sometimes small lateral nerves also, somewhat prominent on both surfaces.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers white or very pale yellow, in heads on axillary peduncles 1.5-5 cm. long which are variable in indumentum but eglandular, and whose involucel is normally apical or in the upper half of the peduncle.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pods very slow in dehiscing, (8)9-21 x (1.5)1.7-3.5 cm., straight or sometimes ± falcate, flattened but thick and almost woody in texture when dry, ± smooth and glossy, without raised veins, glabrous or somewhat hairy.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds olive-grey, 9-12 x 7-8 mm., smooth, elliptic to subcircular, compressed areole 7-9.5 x 5-6 mm.

[ILDIS]
Use
Forage, Medicine, Wood

Native to:

Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Caprivi Strip, Central African Repu, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe

Introduced into:

Pakistan

Vachellia sieberiana (DC.) Kyal. & Boatwr. appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status Has image?
Sieber [43], Senegal Acacia sieberiana K000232638 Unknown type material Yes
Schweinfurth, G. [1010], Sudan Acacia sieberiana K000244252 Yes
Schweinfurth, G. [1041], Sudan Acacia sieberiana K000244251 Yes
Schweinfurth, G. [1090], Sudan Acacia sieberiana K000244250 Yes
Schweinfurth, G. [1963], Sudan Acacia sieberiana K000244254 Unknown type material Yes
Pfund, J. [14], Sudan Acacia sieberiana K000244255 Yes
Timberlake, J. [5305], Malawi Acacia sieberiana K000614652 No
Timberlake, J. [s.n.], Malawi Acacia sieberiana K000614761 No
Timberlake, J. [s.n.], Malawi Acacia sieberiana K000614712 No

First published in Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 172: 516 (2013)

Accepted by

  • Govaerts, R., Nic Lughadha, E., Black, N., Turner, R. & Paton, A. (2021). The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-00997-6 Scientific Data 8: 215.

Literature

Kew Backbone Distributions

  • Boudet, G., Lebrun, J.P. & Demange, R. (1986). Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Mali: 1-465. Etudes d'Elevage et de Médecine Vétérinaire des Pays Tropicaux.
  • Boulvert, Y. (1977). Catalogue de la Flore de Centrafrique 3: 1-89. ORSTROM, Bangui.
  • Brenan, J.P.M. (1970). Flora Zambesiaca 3(1): 1-153. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Brunel, J.F., Hiepo, P. & Scholz, H. (eds.) (1984). Flore Analytique du Togo Phanérogames: 1-751. GTZ, Eschborn.
  • Catarino, L., Sampaio Martins, E., Pinto-Basto, M.F. & Diniz, M.A. (2006). Plantas Vasculares e Briófitos da Guiné-Bissau: 1-298. Instituto de investigação científica tropical, Instituto Português de apoio ao desenvolvimento.
  • Figueiredo, E. & Smith, G.F. (2008). Plants of Angola Strelitzia 22: 1-279. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
  • Germishuizen, G. & Meyer, N.L. (eds.) (2003). Plants of Southern Africa an annotated checklist Strelitzia 14: 1-1231. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
  • Hedberg, I. & Edwards, S. (eds.) (1989 publ. 1990). Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea 3: 1-659. The National Herbarium, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia & The Department of Systematic Botany, Upps.
  • Jones, M. (1991). A checklist of Gambian plants: 1-33. Michael Jones, The Gambia College.
  • Kumar, S. & Sane, P.V. (2003). Legumes of South Asia. A Checklist: 1-536. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Lebrun, J.-P., Audru, J., Gaston, A. & Mosnier, M. (1972). Catalogue des Plantes Vasculaires du Tchad Méridional: 1-289. Institut d' Elevage et de Médecine Vétérinaire des Pays Tropicaux, Maisons Alfort.
  • Lebrun, J.p., Toutain, B., Gaston, A. & Boudet, G. (1991). Catalogue des Plantes Vasculaires du Burkina Faso: 1-341. Institut d' Elevage et de Médecine Vétérinaire des Pays Tropicaux, Maisons Alfort.
  • Masharabu, T., Bigendako, M.J., Lejoly, J., Nkengurutse, J., Noret, N., Bizuru, E. & Bogaert, J. (2010). Etude analytique de la flore et de la végétation du Parc National de la Ruvubu, Burundi International Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences 4: 834-856.
  • Peyre de Fabregues, B. & Lebrun, J.-P. (1976). Catalogue des Plantes Vascularies du Niger: 1-433. Institut d' Elevage et de Médecine Vétérinaire des Pays Tropicaux, Maisons Alfort.

  • Flora Zambesiaca

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

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/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 Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    Copyright applied to individual images

  • Wood Anatomy Microscope Slides

    Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/