Vachellia nubica
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Clade: Mimosoid clade
Genus: Vachellia
Species:
V. nubica
Binomial name
Vachellia nubica
(Benth.) Kyal. & Boatwr.[1]
Synonyms
  • Acacia nubica Benth.

Vachellia nubica is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae.

Botanical description

It is a somewhat obconical shrub which grows up to about 5 metres high.[2] The branches often radiate from the base in all directions. The branchlets tend to be straight and are grey-white, with grey-white spines with brown tips, 0.5 to 1.5 cm long. The pinnae are in 3 to 12 pairs, with leaflets in 5 to 15 pairs, about 0.3 cm long.[3] The flowers are off-white in globose heads, and are very fragrant Pods are 5 to 10 cm long, 1.25 cm broad and pale yellow, pointed at both ends. The seeds are olive-green, with five to ten in a pod.[4] It has an offensive smell when bruised or cut.

Distribution

Vachellia nubica occurs mainly on alluvial silt soils. It is found in north-east Africa from Egypt to Kenya, and also in Iraq and Iran.

Uses

It is an important browse shrub in the drier parts of Kenya. The leaves and pods are high in calcium, and the leaves are a good source of phosphorus.[5]

The bark extract is said to have medicinal value amongst the Borana of Ethiopia, where it is boiled amongst other things for colds.[6] Amongst the Samburu of Kenya is used for "women's stomach pain, hetpatitis, fever and gonorrhoea".[7] the bark is peeled, soaked in water and drunk as tea.

References

  1. ↑ Kyalangalilwa B, Boatwright JS, Daru BH, Maurin O, van der Bank M (2013). "Phylogenetic position and revised classification of Acacia s.l. (Fabaceae: Mimosoideae) in Africa, including new combinations in Vachellia and Senegalia". Bot J Linn Soc. 172 (4): 500–523. doi:10.1111/boj.12047. hdl:10566/3454.
  2. ↑ J. P. M. Brenan: Flora of Tropical East Africa, 1959
  3. ↑ "Species description". Archived from the original on 2001-02-10.
  4. ↑ Andrews F.W. 1952. Flowering plants of the Sudan. Vol. II Sterculiaceae-Dipsacaceae. T. Buncle & Co. publ., Arbroath, Scotland.
  5. ↑ Dougall, H.W. & Bodgan, A.V. 1958. Browse plants of Kenya – with special reference to those occurring in South Barino. E. Afr. Agric. J., 23: 236-245.
  6. ↑ Coppock, D. Layne, The Borana Plateau of Southern Ethiopia: Synthesis of pastoral research, development and change, 1980-91. ILRI, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 1994
  7. ↑ Fratkin, Elliot: Traditional Medicine and Concepts of Healing among Samburu Pastoralists of Kenya in Journal of Ethnobiology 16(1) Summer 1996
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