Faidherbia A.Chev.

Legumes of the World. Edited by G. Lewis, B. Schrire, B. MacKinder & M. Lock. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. (2005)

Vernacular

apple-ring acacia

Habit

Trees

Ecology

Seasonally dry tropical to subtropical riverine and groundwater forest, woodland, swamps and floodplains

Distribution

Africa (widespread in Sudanian, Zambezian and Sahelian regions from Egypt, Senegal and the Gambia south to Botswana, and KwaZulu Natal in S Africa) and in the Arabian Peninsula to W Asia (Iran); introduced in India, Nepal, Pakistan, Peru and some Atlantic islands

Note

Segregated from Acacia by A. Chevalier in 1934, but this was ignored until recently; molecular studies of Luckow et al. (2000, 2003) confirm that the genus belongs to Ingeae and not to Acacieae; the shape of the ripe pods inspired the common name ' apple-ring acacia '

Use

Faidherbia albida (Delile) A.Chev. (winter thorn ; see Barnes & Fagg (2003) for review of vernacular names) is used in agroforestry, for livestock fodder, medicine, famine food (humans), shelter and shade trees (unusual in being leafless during the rainy season and leafy during the dry season), hedges, and timber (for light construction, utensils, tools, containers and fences); the bark, roots and powdered pods have been used as a fish poison; bark strips are used (like dental floss) to clean teeth; in some areas a popular ornamental and is said to be an indicator of fertile sites