Acacia seyal Delile
var. fistula (Schweinf.) Oliv.
All images: Click on each image to see a larger version and details of the record View selected images
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
Picture: Warren McCleland
Rio Muacamula, Macomia District, Cabo Delgado.
Picture: Warren McCleland
Rio Muacamula, Macomia District, Cabo Delgado.
Picture: Warren McCleland
Rio Muacamula, Macomia District, Cabo Delgado.
Drawing showing characteristics for Acacia seyal
Lusaka 1976; Patricia Bingham
Drawing showing characteristics for Acacia seyal
Lusaka 1976; Patricia Bingham
Drawing showing characteristics for the various Mimosoid Pods
Lusaka 1976; Patricia Bingham
Species details: Click on each item to see an explanation of that item (Note: opens a new window)
Synonyms:
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Acacia fistula Schweinf.
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Common names:
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Frequency:
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Locally common |
Status:
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Native |
Description:
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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:
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Sudan |
Notes:
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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:
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Habitat:
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Floodplain grassland on vertisols (black cotton soils). |
Altitude range: |
980 - 1000 m |
Flowering time: | Jun - Sep |
Worldwide distribution:
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Sudan and Somalia through eastern Africa to Mozambique, Malawi and the Kafue River basin in Zambia. |
Zambian distribution (Flora Zambesiaca):
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C,S |
Zambian distribution (Provinces):
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C,Lk,S |
Growth form(s):
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Tree.
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Endemic status:
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Red data list status:
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Lower Risk - least concern |
Insects associated with this species:
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Spot characters:
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Display spot characters for this species |
Content last updated: |
Wednesday 11 January 2017 |
Literature:
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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).
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Other sources of information about Acacia seyal var. fistula:
Our websites:
Flora of Malawi:
Acacia seyal var. fistulaFlora of Mozambique:
Acacia seyal var. fistulaExternal websites:
African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg):
Acacia seyalBHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library):
Acacia seyalEOL (Encyclopedia of Life):
Acacia seyalGBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility):
Acacia seyalGoogle:
Web -
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ScholariNaturalist:
Acacia seyalIPNI (International Plant Names Index):
Acacia seyalJSTOR Plant Science:
Acacia seyalMansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops:
Acacia seyalPlants of the World Online:
Acacia seyalTropicos:
Acacia seyalWikipedia:
Acacia seyal
Copyright: Mike Bingham, Annette Willemen, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Mark Hyde, 2011-24
Bingham, M.G., Willemen, A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. and Hyde, M.A.
(2024).
Flora of Zambia: Species information: Acacia seyal var. fistula. https://www.zambiaflora.com/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=186370, retrieved 29 March 2024
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