Table of Contents
Overview
Comprehensive Description
Description
A small slender tree with flattened crown. Bark greenish, covered with greenish-yellow or orange-red, powdery meal; young branches are covered with brown glands. Leaves with 3–6 pairs of pinnae, each carrying 10–16 pairs of leaflets.Flowers bright yellow with strong spicy smell in a capitate inflorescence. Fruit is a linear dehiscent pod.
© Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Source:
Bibliotheca Alexandrina - EOL Ar
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Distribution
Distribution in Egypt
Nile Valley North of Nubia (Location: Aswan).
© Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Source:
Bibliotheca Alexandrina - EOL Ar
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Localities documented in Tropicos sources
Burkina (Africa & Madagascar)
Bolivia (South America)
Cameroon (Africa & Madagascar)
Djibouti (Africa & Madagascar)
Egypt (Africa & Madagascar)
Ethiopia (Africa & Madagascar)
Ghana (Africa & Madagascar)
Chad (Africa & Madagascar)
Honduras (Mesoamerica)
India (Asia)
Kenya (Africa & Madagascar)
Malawi (Africa & Madagascar)
Mali (Africa & Madagascar)
Mauritania (Africa & Madagascar)
Mozambique (Africa & Madagascar)
Nigeria (Africa & Madagascar)
Niger (Africa & Madagascar)
Pakistan (Asia)
Saudi Arabia (Asia)
Sudan (Africa & Madagascar)
Senegal (Africa & Madagascar)
Somalia (Africa & Madagascar)
Togo (Africa & Madagascar)
Tanzania (Africa & Madagascar)
Uganda (Africa & Madagascar)
Yemen (Asia)
Zambia (Africa & Madagascar)
United States (North America)
Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.
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Molina Rosito, A. 1975. Enumeración de las plantas de Honduras. Ceiba 19(1): 1–118.
http://www.tropicos.org/Reference/866
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Rico-Arce, M. d. L. 2007. A Checklist and Synopsis of American Species of Acacia (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae). 207 pp.
http://www.tropicos.org/Reference/1031437
© Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63110 USA
Source:
Missouri Botanical Garden
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Global Distribution
Egypt, Sudan, Tropical East Africa, Southern Arabia.
© Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Source:
Bibliotheca Alexandrina - EOL Ar
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Physical Description
Size
Ecology
Habitat
Life History and Behavior
Life Expectancy
Molecular Biology and Genetics
Molecular Biology
Barcode data: Acacia seyal
No available public DNA sequences.
Download FASTA File
© Barcode of Life Data Systems
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Statistics of barcoding coverage: Acacia seyal
Public Records: 2
Specimens with Barcodes: 2
Species With Barcodes: 1
© Barcode of Life Data Systems
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Wikipedia
Acacia seyal
Acacia seyal, the Red acacia, known also as the shittah tree (the source of shittim wood), is a thorny, 6–10 m (20–30 ft) high tree with a pale greenish or reddish bark. At the base of the 3–10 cm (1–4 in) feathery leaves there are two straight, light grey thorns, growing to 7–20 cm (3–8 in) long. The blossoms are displayed in round, bright yellow clusters approximately in 1.5 cm (0.5 in) diameter.
In Acacia seyal var. fistula, which is more common on heavy clay soils, some of the thorns are swollen and house symbiotic ants.[2]
It is distributed from Egypt to Kenya and west Senegal. In the Sahara, it often grows in damp valleys.
Contents |
Uses
Gum arabic
Acacia seyal is, along with other acacias, an important source for gum arabic, a natural polysaccharide, that exudes from damaged stems and solidifies.[3]
Tanning
Parts of the tree have a tannin content of up to 18-20%. The bark and seed pods of Acacia seyal sensu lato var. seyal have a tannin content of about 20%.[4]
Wood
Wood from the tree is said to have been used in Ancient Egypt to make coffins and also the Ark of the Covenant.[5]
Medicinal uses
Bark
The bark is used to treat dysentery and bacterial infections of the skin, such as leprosy. The bark is also used as a stimulant.[3]
Gum
The gum is used as an aphrodisiac, to treat diarrhoea, as an emollient, to treat hemorrhaging, inflammation of the eye, intestinal ailments and rhinitis. The gum is used to ward off arthritis and bronchitis.[3]
Wood
Incense from the wood is used to treat pain from rheumatism and to keep expectant mothers from contracting rhinitis and fevers.[3]
Botanical varieties
Acacia seyal occasionally hybridizes with A. xanthophloea.
References
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Acacia seyal |
 | Wikispecies has information related to: Acacia seyal |
- ^ ILDIS LegumeWeb
- ^ Young, T.P.; Cynthia H. Stubblefield, Lynne A. Isbell (December 1996). "Ants on swollen-thorn acacias: species coexistence in a simple system". Oecologia 109 (1): 98–107. doi:10.1007/s004420050063. Retrieved 2008-01-21.
- ^ a b c d Purdue University
- ^ a b FAO
- ^ Acacia seyal in BoDD – Botanical Dermatology Database
- ^ ILDIS
- Acacia seyal in West African plants - A Photo Guide.
- Arbonnier, M. Arbres, arbustes et the lianes zones seches d'Afrique de l'Ouest. CIRAD. Montpellier, 2000 ISBN 2-87614-431-X
Source:
Wikipedia
Unreviewed
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