Vachellia erioloba

Camel Thorn Tree ( Vachellia erioloba ) at Habitat

The camel thorn ( Vachellia erioloba ( E.Mey ) PJHHurter, Syn: .. Acacia erioloba E.Mey ), camel thorn tree or camel thorn Acacia tree, belongs to the subfamily of the mimosa family ( Mimosoideae ) within the legume family ( Fabaceae ). Its name derives from the zoological name for the giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis, the direct translation would giraffes thorn tree. In English there is both trivial name " Giraffe Thorn " and " Camel Thorn ".

Description

The camel thorn grows as a tree and can reach heights of growth of about 16 meters and trunk diameter of about 10 meters. The leaves and branches are pairwise occupied by up to 5 cm long spines.

The flowering season begins in July and lasts until November, with the peak in September. The spherical yellow inflorescences are only a few inches tall and are an important food supply for insects represents the legumes have the shape of a half moon and are the largest among the African acacias. Woody its housing has a velvety gray coating and contains 8 to 25 seeds.

Occurrence

The Camel Thorn is one in Southern Africa, especially in Namibia and Botswana, dominant plant species. It is also to be found in Angola, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Israel.

The camel thorn cope with rainfall amounts of 40 to 900 mm / year and daytime temperatures of below 15 ° C to 45 ° C. It is an important shade tree in the deserts and semi-deserts. He prefers to grow in riverbeds or the vicinity thereof, in order to advance with its up to 60 meters deep roots in the sandy soil to groundwater.

Medical use

With the ground powder of the legume ear infections can be treated. A decoction of the root can be used to treat toothache and tuberculosis.

Others

In Südwesterlied the camel thorn is sung as a characteristic plant of Namibia (formerly German South-West Africa ).

Swell

• Collation and Overview of Research Information on Acacia Erioloba ( Camel Thorn ) and Identification of Relevant Research Gaps To Inform Protection of the Species, Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, South Africa; Colleen Seymour & Suzanne Milton; Assisted by Deidre alias and Eric Herrmann