Acacia seyal Del

Description :

A shrub or small tree up to 12 tall. The crown is often flat and sometimes branching near the base. It is a deciduous tree with compound leaves. It has sharp thorns usually in pairs and straight. The bark is rough, cream to greenish yellow, or dark grey, reddish brown, or black. It flakes off exposing a powdery under surface.  The flowers are yellow, fragrant and appear between March and June. The curved pods are 7 to 22 cm long, and 0.5 to 0.9 cm wide. They mature between September and November. It can be reproduced both from seed and by vegetative means. It is best reproduced by seed and planted seedlings. Pretreatment of seed by nicking the seed coat, by an overnight soak in water, or a soak in sulfuric acid will increase germination. It is relatively slow growing, with a life span of 25 to 30 years. Yields of 3 to 6 m³/ha/yr, depending on the site, have been recorded. Wood is heavy dense, light cream to dark in color having close and rough grains. 

Distribution :

This tree is native to Africa. It has been introduced to D.I. Khan and Bund Korai in KP. It is also used as a roadside tree planted extensively throughout the hottest areas of Pakistan. An intolerant, drought resistant tree that grows on a variety of very harsh sites usually below 2100 m in elevation. Some varieties of this tree tolerate waterlogging and can even stand inundation for part of the year. It requires a precipitation zone of 300 to 800 mm/yr. It prefers an arid to semi-arid, hot, climate with a temperature range of 5 to 45°C. It can tolerate long period of drought. 8 to 10 months. It relatively is free from insect and disease problems; however, felled logs may be severely damaged by wood borers. 

Uses :

This tree is adapted to a variety of arid sites and soils. It is aggressive, easily established, and can tolerate waterlogging and inundation. It is a good nitrogen fixer and could be used for erosion control on very harsh sites. With care it could be a useful farm forestry tree. It has the added advantage of having some fire-resistant characteristics. Young plants need protection from grazing. It can be used as fodder, fuel, gum, land stabilization, poles, and agricultural implements.