Acacia leucophloea Willd

Description :

This Plant is a large thorny tree. It attains the height of about 30 to 40 m and its breast height is 100 cm in diameter. Its trunk is stout and divided into numerous large branches. Its grown specimens have umbrella like wide crown. Bark of the tree is exfoliating in long strips, smooth and white to yellowish grey in color when young and becomes rough and black and it gets old. Branches are also yellowish. Leaves are alternate, bipinnate and stipular spines arranged in pairs, new leaves appear in the mid of April and flowers appear from August to October, flowers sessile are light-yellow to cream in color. Fruit is in the shape of coiled pod, yellow in color and it is 6 to 15 cm long and 0.7 to 1.5 cm wide with many seeds.

 

Distribution :

It is native to the south and Southeast Asia, it easily can be found in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Burma, Indonesia and Java. This is the tree that favors to grow in the areas of subtropical and tropical climate. It grows well in savannas, dry forests, desert ecosystems and bush woodlands where normally the elevation form the sea level is 750 to 850 m and the average rainfall is only 300 to 1600 mm per year, in these areas dry season usually persists from 8 to 10 months.

Uses :

The seeds are edible and are cooked and eaten as vegetable. The wood of the bark is used to make charcoal and can also be used as firewood as it is very hard, dry and have low moisture content and it is also used in agricultural implements, cartwheel, for turnery and in oil mills. The Fibers present in the inner bark are used to make rough ropes and fish nets. The gum of the tree is used in the making of traditional medicines and pods of the tree are generally collected for fodder. In Pakistan the bark is used to make medicine for the treatment of astringent, and extract of the bark is used as an antidote for snakebite and problems like coughing, vomiting, dental and skin problems.