Acacia caffra

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Provides a good fuel for brick kilns (Wickens et al. 1995). The wood is heavy (980-1060 kg/m3) and hard, the sapwood is off-white and heartwood very dark brown, close grained and seasons without defects . In South Africa it is used for fencing posts, and is said to be good for ornamental work. The Xhosa use the root wood for making long-stemmed tobacco pipes and the long whippy branches for basketry. The foliage and pods are considered good fodder for livestock and wildlife, and it is one of the first Acacia species to resprout with the rains. Black rhino browse and eat the stem and bark , and baboons eat flowers and seed (Timberlake et al. 1999, Wickens et al. 1995). An important honey source in southern Africa . The Zulus use a bark infusion for blood disorders.

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

Subfamily Mimosoideae

Mostly trees or shrubs . Leaves mostly bipinnate. Corolla usually not showy, actinomorphic , sympetalous , the lobes valvate . Stamens 10-numerous, often monadelphous , showy. Pollen released in monads , tetrads , or polyads . Seeds with u-shaped line (pleurogram) present. [Carr]

Genus Acacia

Trees , shrubs , rarely herbs, often prickly or spinose . Leaves bipinnate; leaflets small and numerous or leaves reduced to phyllodes; petiolar glands often present; stipules generally spinescent . Inflorescence cylindric spike or globose head ; peduncle solitary axillary or fasciculate or paniculate at the end of branches; bracts often two, scale like, situated on the peduncle at various levels. Flowers small, 3-5-merous, bisexual or plants polygamous. Calyx campanulate , dentate , lobed or polysepalous . Petals usually more or less united , rarely absent. Stamens indefinite, free or shortly and irregularly connate at the base ; anthers small, eglandular . Ovary sessile or stipitate , with 2 or more ovules. Fruit ovate to linear , straight, arcuate or contorted, membranous to woody, rarely articulated or moniliform . Seed large, with a filiform funicle or fleshy aril.

A genus with about 900 species; distributed mainly in tropics and subtropics, especially in Africa and Australia.[1]

Physical Description

Biology

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Soil: Minimum pH: 6.1 • Maximum pH: 8.5

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b, 11. (map)

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Mimosa caffra Thunb.

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Comment: Climbing : Not climbing, Conservation Status: Not Threatened, Habit: Shrub , Habit: Tree , Lifespan: Perennial

Last scrutiny: 1994

Similar Species

Members of the genus Acacia

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 497 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

A. abyssinica (Nyanga Flat-Top) · A. acanthoclada (Harrow Wattle) · A. acanthoclada var. glaucescens (Harrow Wattle) · A. acinacea (Gold Dust Wattle) · A. aculeaticarpa (Catclaw Mimosa) · A. aculeatissima (Thin-Leaf Wattle) · A. acuminata (Raspberry Jam) · A. acuminata acuminata (Raspberry Jam) · A. adunca (Wallangarra Wattle) · A. alata (Winged Wattle) · A. albicorticata (Aromo) · A. albizioides (Climbing Wattle) · A. alpina (Alpine Wattle) · A. amblygona (Fan Wattle) · A. amoena (Boomerang Wattle) · A. ampliceps (Acacia) · A. ancistrophylla var. lissophylla (Dwarf Myall) · A. anegadensis (Blackbrush Wattle) · A. aneura (Mulga) · A. angustissima (Carboncillo) · A. angustissima var. angustissima (Prairie Acacia) · A. angustissima var. chisosiana (Carboncillo) · A. angustissima var. hirta (Prairie Acacia) · A. angustissima var. shrevei (Carboncillo) · A. angustissima var. suffrutescens (Carboncillo) · A. angustissima var. texensis (Carboncillo) · A. anomala (Chittering Grass Wattle) · A. anthochaera (Kimberly's Wattle) · A. aphylla (Leafless Rock Wattle) · A. applanata (Grass Wattle) · A. araneosa (Balcanoona Wattle) · A. argutifolia (East Barrens Wattle) · A. argyrodendron (Blackwood) · A. argyrophylla (Silver Mulga) · A. aroma (Aromita) · A. aroma var. huarango (Aromita) · A. aspera (Rough Wattle) · A. atramentaria (Brea) · A. aulacocarpa (New Guinea Wattle) · A. auricoma (Nyalpilintji Wattle) · A. auriculiformis (Auri) · A. auripila (Rudall River Myall) · A. ausfeldii (Whipstick Cinnamon Wattle) · A. baeuerlenii (Wattle Shrub) · A. baileyana (Bailey Acacia) · A. baileyana 'Purpurea' (Baileys Purple Acacia) · A. bakeri (Baker's Wattle) · A. balsamea (Balsam Wattle) · A. barakulensis (Waaje Wattle) · A. barattensis (Baratta Wattle) · A. barringtonensis (Barrington Wattle) · A. basedowii (Basedow's Wattle) · A. baueri (Tiny Wattle) · A. baxteri (Baxter's Wattle) · A. beckleri (Barrier Range Wattle) · A. berlandieri (Berlandier Acacia) · A. betchei (Red-Tip Wattle) · A. bidwillii (Corkwood Wattle) · A. biflora (Two-Flowered Acacia) · A. binervata (Two-Veined Hickory) · A. binervia (Coast Myall) · A. bivenosa (Two Nerved Wattle) · A. blaxellii (Blaxell's Wattle) · A. boormanii (Snowy River Wattle) · A. borleae (Sticky Acacia) · A. brachybotrya (Grey Mulga) · A. brevispica dregeana (Prickly Thorn) · A. browniana (Brown's Wattle) · A. brownii (Heath Wattle) · A. brunioides (Brown Wattle) · A. burbidgeae (Burbidge's Wattle) · A. burrowii (Burrow's Wattle) · A. buxifolia (Box-Leaved Wattle) · A. buxifolia buxifolia (Box-Leaved Wattle) · A. buxifolia pubiflora (Box-Leaved Wattle) · A. bynoeana (Bynoe's Wattle) · A. caerulescens (Buchan Blue Wattle) · A. caesiella (Blue Bush) · A. caffra (Cat Thorn) · A. calamifolia (Wallowa) · A. calcicola (Northern Myall) · A. cambagei (Stinking Wattle) · A. cana (Broad-Leaved Nealie) · A. cardiophylla (West Wyalong Wattle) · A. carneorum (Purple-Wood Wattle) · A. catechu (Black Cutch) · A. catechu var. oligosperma (Black Catechu) · A. catechu var. sundra (Cutch Tree) · A. caven (Aromita) · A. caven var. caven (Roman-Cassie) · A. celastrifolia (Celastrus-Leaved Acacia) · A. centralis (Guache) · A. chalkeri (Chalker's Wattle) · A. cheelii (Motherumbah) · A. chinchillensis (Chinchilla Wattle) · A. chippendalei (Chippendale's Wattle) · A. chisholmii (Chisholm's Wattle) · A. choriophylla (Cinnecord) · A. chundra (Red Cutch) · A. citrinoviridis (River Jam)

More Info

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Further Reading

• A dictionary of popular names of the plants which furnish the natural and acquired wants of man, in all matters of domestic and general economy. Their history, products, & uses, by John Smith. London, Macmillan, 1882. url p. 2.
• A handbook to the flora of Natal / by J. Medley Wood. Durban, Natal: Bennett & Davis, Printers, 1907. url p. 44.
• Botanical survey of Natal and Zululand. By R.D. Aitken, B. SC., and G.W. Gale, B. SC.. .. Pretoria: The Government printing and stationery office, 1921. url p. 9.
• Bulletin of entomological research. Farnham Royal: Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux. url p. 320, p. 6, p. 97.
• Bulletin of miscellaneous information /Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 1909 London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1900-1941. url p. 107, p. 157.
• Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). London: The Museum, 1950-1977. url p. 103, p. 146, p. 369.
• Catalogue of the African plants London, Printed by order of the Trustees, 1896-1901. url .
• Catalogue of the African plants collected by Dr. Friedrich Welwitsch in 1853-61. .. London, Printed by order of the Trustees, 1896-1901. url p. 311.
• Dictionary of the common names of plants with list of foreign plants cultivated in the open / by Rudolf Marloth. Cape Town: Specialty Press of South Africa, 1917. url p. 109, p. 25, p. 47, p. 87.
• Farming industries of Cape Colony. By Robert Wallace. .. With 81 full-page plates, 14 maps, 6 plans, and 92 illustrations in the text. London: P. S. King and son; [etc.], 1896. url , p. 124, p. 528.
• IUCN Directory of Afrotropical Protected Areas IUCN, UNEP url p. 1010, p. 645, p. 660, p. 680, p. 687, p. 690, p. 697, p. 699, p. 702, p. 779.
• Ibis. [London]Published for the British Ornithologists' Union by Academic Press. url p. 393.
• Inventory of seeds and plants imported / U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry. Washington, D.C.: G.P.O., 1914-1924. url p. 43.
• Records of the Albany Museum / Committee of the Albany Museum. Grahamstown, South Africa: Albany Museum, 1903-1935. url p. 103, p. 418.
• South African journal of natural history. Pretoria, South African Biological Society. url p. 114, p. 116, p. 202, p. 206.
• South African journal of science. [Marshalltown, Transvaal: South African Association for the Advancement of Science, url , p. 14, p. 155, p. 166, p. 184, p. 298.
• The Bradley bibliography; a guide to the literature of the woody plants of the world published before the beginning of the twentieth century; Cambridge, Riverside Press, 1911-18. url p. 324.
• The Coccidae, Urbana, Ill., Scarab company, 1921. url p. 333.
• The Coccidae, tables for the identification of the subfamilies and some of the more important genera and species, together with discussions of their anatomy and life history, by Alex. D. MacGillivray. .. Urbana, Ill., Scarab, 1921. url p. 333.
• The Gardeners' chronicle: a weekly illustrated journal of horticulture and allied subjects. London: [Gardeners Chronicle], 1874-1955. url , , p. 20, p. 20.
• The Journal of the Linnean Society. Botany. 40 1911-12 London: the Society: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts & Green: ||Williams and Norgate, 1865-1968. url p. 499.
• The London journal of botany: containing figures and descriptions of such plants as recommend themselves by their novelty, rarity, history, or uses: together with botanical notices and information and and occasional portraits and memoirs of eminent botanists. 5 1846 London: H. Baillie?re, 1842-1848. url p. 98.
• The Phytologist: a popular botanical miscellany. London, John van Voorst, 1844-56. url p. 89.
• The Review of applied entomology. Farnham Royal, Eng., etc.: Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, etc. url p. 166, p. 555, p. 650.
• The agricultural and forest products of British West Africa, by Gerald C. Dudgeon. .. with a preface by Wyndham R. Dunstan. .. London, J. Murray, 1922. url , .
• The natural history of plants, their forms, growth, reproduction, and distribution; Dublin, Blackie & son, limited, 1902. url .
• The natural history of plants; their forms, growth, reproduction, and distribution. From the German of Anton Kerner von Marilaun, by F.W. Oliver, with the assistance of Marian Busk and Mary F. Ewart. with about 2000 original woodcut illustrations and sixteen plates in colours. London, Blackie, 1896-1897. url p. 196.
• Transactions of the Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society. Edinburgh: Douglas & Foulis, 1888-1926. url p. 196.
• Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society. 18 1907 Cape Town, : The Society. url p. 152.

Notes

Contributors

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2844650
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ILD-234
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:469907-1
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 469907-1
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 423898

Footnotes

1. "Acacia". in Flora of Pakistan. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.