| Faidherbia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| F. albida in theElah valley, Israel | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Caesalpinioideae |
| Clade: | Mimosoid clade |
| Genus: | Faidherbia A.Chev. |
| Species: | F. albida |
| Binomial name | |
| Faidherbia albida | |
 | |
range ofF. albida | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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_pods_(11887672376).jpg)
Faidherbia is a genus offabaceous plants containing one species,Faidherbia albida, which was formerly widely included in the genusAcacia asAcacia albida. The species is native toAfrica and theMiddle East and has also been introduced toPakistan andIndia.[2] Common names includeapple-ring acacia[3] (their circular, indehiscent seed pods resemble apple rings),[4]white acacia,[5] andwinter thorn.[2] TheSouth African name isana tree.[2][6]
This species has been known asAcacia albida for a long time, and is often still known as such. Guinet (1969) inPondicherry first proposed separating it into the genusFaidherbia, a genus erected during the previous century byAuguste Chevalier with this as thetype species, seconded by the South African James Henderson Ross (1973) and theSenegaleselegume botanist Nongonierma (1976, 1978),[7] but authors continued to favour classification underAcacia as of 1997.[6][7]
According toJohn Patrick Micklethwait Brenan, as written in theFlora of Tropical East Africa (1959), two forms can be distinguished in this region (Kenya, Tanzania,Uganda). Race A is distinguished by generally smooth features, whereas race B is more hairy. Ross (1979) notes that all trees in the south of central Tanzania belong to race B.[8] Similarly, Nongonierma described two variants for Senegal, var.glabra and var.pseudoglabra, but his distinction was disregarded taxonomically as of 2007.[1]
Faidherbia is a thornytree growing up to 6–30 m (20–98 ft) tall and up to 2 m (6+1⁄2 ft) in trunk diameter. Its deep-penetratingtap root makes it highly resistant to drought. The bark is grey, and fissured when old. There are 11,000 seeds/kg.[citation needed]
InSouthern Africa, it is absent from most of the territory, avoiding dry, colder and upland areas or areas ofwinter rainfall, but it does occur in the easternCaprivi Strip, the northernOkavango basin, the floodplains of theLinyanti,Zambezi andLimpopo rivers, as well as southwards toGaborone. InZimbabwe, the tree is absent from thehighlands and central plateau, but it does occur inGonarezhou[9] and southwards to theKruger Park and adjacentlowveld of westernGaza and southernMaputo provinces. It reaches its southern limit along thePongola floodplain inMaputaland.[6] In westernNamibia, it is present in theKaokoveld,Damaraland, and theNamib-Naukluft area.
In the rest of Africa, it is absent from deserts, areas of high rainfall,tropical rainforests and mountainous areas, but occurs throughout the eastern half of the continent from the southern coast inMaputaland toEgypt, throughout theSubsaharanSahel and theHorn of Africa. In Northern Africa, besides in Egypt it also occurs inAlgeria, it does not occur inMorocco proper, but is found inWestern Sahara.[2]
In Asia, it is thought to be native toYemen andSaudi Arabia in theArabian Peninsula,Iran, and in theLevant in Israel,Syria andLebanon.[2] In Israel, the tree is protected by law.[5]
A population is found inrelict groves inIsrael (in theShimron nature reserve, near thecommunity settlement ofTimrat, and in the western-most reaches of theValley of Elah). All of the trees in a given grove are genetically identical and seem to have multiplied byvegetative reproduction only, for thousands of years.[citation needed]
Introduced populations are found inCyprus,Pakistan, and India (Karnataka), as well as onAscension Island.[2]
In Southern Africa, it usually grows on alluvial floodplains in bushveld, on riverbanks or flood pans, in swamps, or in dry watercourses that can flood during rains.[6] It grows in woodland in the Sahel, along the Zambezi, and inSudan.[2] In the Sahel, it grows gregariously in groves. It also grows in savannahs in Sudan and the Sahel, in heavy soils with good drainage.[7]
In tropical eastern Africa, it sometimes occurs singly, but may often be the dominant species in dry woodlands.[1] In the Sahel, it has an irregular, clumped distribution, absent in some areas, but occurring in others.[7]
It grows in areas with250–600 mm (10–23+1⁄2 in) of rain per year.[8]
Faidherbia albida is important in the Sahel for raisingbees, since its flowers provide beeforage at the close of the rainy season, when most other local plants do not.[10]
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The seed pods are used for raisinglivestock, are used ascamelfodder inNigeria,[10] and are eaten by stock and game in Southern Africa.[6] They are relished by elephant, antelope, buffalo, baboons and various browsers and grazers, though strangely ignored by warthogs and zebras.[11]
The wood is used forcanoes,mortars and pestles, while the bark is pounded inNigeria and used as a packing material on pack animals. The wood has a density of about 560 kg/m3 at a water content of 12%.[12] The energy value of the wood as fuel is 19.741 kJ/kg.[10]
Ashes of the wood are used in making soap and as adepilatory and tanning agent for hides. The wood is used for carving and the thorny branches useful for a natural barbed fence.[13] Pods and foliage are highly regarded as livestock fodder. Some 90% of Senegalese farmers interviewed by Felker (1981) collected, stored, and rationedAcacia albida pods to livestock.[citation needed] Zimbabweans use the pods to sedate fish. Humans eat the boiled seeds in times of food scarcity in Zimbabwe.[citation needed]
It is valued inagroforestry as itfixes nitrogen shortages, and a high yield has been achieved in at least one test plot of maize crops grown amongst the trees at a density of 100 to 25 tree per hectare.[14] According to a 2018 article inThe Guardian[which?][citation needed],monocultures of this species are popular in parts ofNiger, where it is known asgao inHausa, to use forintercropping.[full citation needed]
[15] It is also used forerosion control.[citation needed] Its value as an agroforestry tree lies partially in the fact that the tree drops its leaves during the rainy season, and therefore does not compete with crops for sunlight.[16] The trees' use in farmer-managed natural regeneration of degraded soils throughout southern Niger since the 1990s has been described by one writer as "the biggest positive environmental transformation in the Sahel, and possibly in Africa".[17]
An extract is used to treat ocular infections infarm animals.[10] The bark is used in traditional medicine in Southern Africa,[6] and Niger.[15]
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Faidherbia albida is known in theBambara language asbalanzan, and is the official tree of the city ofSegou on theNiger River in centralMali.[18] According to legend, Segou is home to 4,444balanzan trees, plus one mysterious "missing tree" – the location of which cannot be identified.[citation needed]
InSerer and some of theCangin languages, it is calledSaas.Saas figures prominently in thecreation myth of the Serer people. According to the myth, it is thetree of life and fertility.[19]
Data related toFaidherbia albida at Wikispecies
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