Acacia sieberiana

Acacia sieberiana DC. var. woodii (Burtt Davy) Keay & Brenan

Common names

Paper bark thorn, white thorn (English); munganyunsi, munganwinci, mutandafiwa, mungwena (Bemba); mutubetube, muvatuba, chisisi, mkansolo, mtwetwe, mkaiya, mtubatuba, mzizi (Kunda/Nyanja/Tumbuka).

The Latin name is after Franz Sieber, a Czech botanist who collected the first scientific specimen of this tree in Senegal. The English names refer to the peeling, papery bark of the tree and the long, white thorns.

General description and distinguishing characteristics

A tree up to 18 m in height. Bark usually grey and rough on the main trunk, sometimes light brown or yellowish and flaking, especially on the branches. Young branchlets densely hairy, golden in colour. Thorns whitish, up to 9 cm long, paired, straight.Leaves compound, 2.5-10 cm long, with 6-23 pairs of pinnae, each bearing 14-45 pairs of leaflets. Leaflets typically 2-6.5 x 0.5-1.5 mm. Flowers white or very pale yellow in spherical heads, axillary (Oct-Nov). Fruit pods (9-21 x 1.7-3.5 cm) are slow to dehisce, straight (occasionally curved), and thickly woody.

Range and habitat

Acacia sieberiana var. woodii occurs throughout southern Africa as well as in Tanzania and Angola. In the Luangwa valley it is found on the levees and sand deposits of the major rivers and their tributaries.