Common names
Purple pod acacia (English); kanukona, kamukona, lungwizi (Kunda); citongololo; kanungunungu; mkunku; msendanjovu (Nyanja)
The Latin specific name refers to the German botanist W. Goetzii who made the first scientific collection of this species in Tanzania in 1898 (Timberlake et al., 1999). The sub-specific name alludes to the smaller leaves of this subspecies.
General description and distinguishing characteristics
A medium to large tree (3-20 m high). Bark rough, grey. Thorns hooked and in pairs, up to 7 mm long. Leaves compound, with 3-10 pairs of pinnae, each bearing 8-22 pairs of leaflets. Leaflets 3-17 x 1-3 mm, usually asymmetric at the base. Petiole 1.5-5 cm long. Flowers creamy white spikes up to 12 cm long (September-November). Fruit a straight, flattened pod up to 15 x 3 cm, brown-red to purplish brown (December-July).
Range and habitat
This sub-species occurs in the DR Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and southwards to Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique. In the valley this species is not common. It was collected in 1933 by Michelmore on the Munyamadzi river. He describes it as occurring in ‘Brachystegia-transitional woodland on sandy soil. Also common in Combretum-Mopane bush.’