Acacia seyal Delile
var. fistula (Schweinf.) Oliv.

Selected images: Click on each image to see a larger version and details of the record View all images (15)

Drawing: Rita Herbert

Trees are exposed to severe annual fires;
Blue Lagoon NP; 1972.
Photo: Mike Bingham

Blue Lagoon NP; Jul 2000.
Photo: Mike Bingham

While the side branches are burned off, the trunk remains intact’;
Blue Lagoon NP; Jul 2000.
Photo: Mike Bingham

Nansenga; Aug 1975.
Photo: Mike Bingham

Mazabuka; Sep 2009.
Photo: Mike Bingham

Mazabuka; 1975.
Photo: Mike Bingham

Drawing showing characteristics for Acacia seyal
Lusaka 1976; Patricia Bingham

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Species details: Click on each item to see an explanation of that item (Note: opens a new window)

Synonyms:	Acacia fistula Schweinf.
Common names:
Frequency:	Locally common
Status:	Native
Description:	A small tree to 9 m tall. The bark is smooth, consisting of a thin whitish or reddish-brown powdery covering, which rubs off to expose green succulent under bark. Typically branches in the lower 1 m or more are burned off, while the trunk remains unscarred. The paired spines are straight, white, and in var. fistula often fused and swollen at the base forming ant-galls. The flowers are in bright yellow globose heads. Pods linear-falcate, 7-22 cm long, more or less constricted between the seeds, hairless but with some sessile glands.
Type location:	Sudan
Notes:	The tree is remarkably well adapted to severe grass fires, owing to its ability to shed the bark after the passage of fire. While this is a very conspicuous feature in Acacia seyal, and in the Fever Tree (Acacia xanthophloea ) it is present though less obvious in Acacia pilispina and some forms of Acacia sieberiana . Insects:There are apparently no records of ants occupying the so-called ‘ant-galls’, as in the well researched symbiotic relationship of the Kenyan Whistling Thorn, Acacia drepanolobium. Bark boring caterpillars (Family Cossidae, ‘Goat Moths’) attack the bark at the base of the trunk, leave frass consisting of faeces and silk.
Derivation of specific name:
Habitat:	Floodplain grassland on vertisols (black cotton soils).
Altitude range:	980 - 1000 m
Flowering time:	Jun - Sep
Worldwide distribution:	Sudan and Somalia through eastern Africa to Mozambique, Malawi and the Kafue River basin in Zambia.
Zambian distribution (Flora Zambesiaca):	C,S
Zambian distribution (Provinces):	C,Lk,S
Growth form(s):	Tree.
Endemic status:
Red data list status:	Lower Risk - least concern
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Content last updated:	Wednesday 11 January 2017
Literature:	Brenan, J.P.M. (1970). Mimosoideae Flora Zambesiaca 3(1) Pages 88 - 89. Burrows, J.E., Burrows, S.M., Lötter, M.C. & Schmidt, E. (2018). Trees and Shrubs Mozambique Publishing Print Matters (Pty), Cape Town. Page 188. (Includes a picture).

Other sources of information about Acacia seyal var. fistula:

Our websites:

Flora of Malawi: Acacia seyal var. fistula
Flora of Mozambique: Acacia seyal var. fistula

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Acacia seyal
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Acacia seyal
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Acacia seyal
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Acacia seyal
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Acacia seyal
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Acacia seyal
JSTOR Plant Science: Acacia seyal
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Acacia seyal
Plants of the World Online: Acacia seyal
Tropicos: Acacia seyal
Wikipedia: Acacia seyal