Acacia mellifera

Acacia mellifera (Vahl) Benth. subsp. detinens (Burch.) Brenan

Common names

Black thorn (English)

The Latin specific name ‘mellifera’ refers to the sweet scent of the flowers, while ‘detinens’ means ‘holding back’ and alludes to the hooked thorns’ habit of detaining passers by.

General description and distinguishing characteristics

Deciduous shrub or small tree (1-6 m high). Bark smoothish, light grey to dark grey with longitudinal fissures. Thorns in pairs below each node, deep brown to blackish, hooked 2.5-5 mm long. Leaves compound, 0.2-4 cm long with 2-3 pairs of pinnae, very occasionally 4. Leaflets 1-2 (rarely 3) pairs, 3.5-22 x 2.5-16 mm. Flowers creamy white spherical, slightly elongated, in axillary heads (August-October). Fruit dehiscent pods, papery, pale brown to straw coloured, straight, flattened (October-February).

The relatively large leaflets of Acacia mellifera are distinctive, although they are not as large as those of Acacia nigrescens.

Range and habitat

Acacia mellifera subsp. detinens occurs throughout southern Africa and north to Tanzania. Subsp. mellifera occurs northwards from Tanzania and Angola up to north Africa and Arabia. Acacia mellifera was collected on the Munyamadzi river in 1933 by Michelmore. He describes it as rare.