Vachellia (Acacia) karroo
The Sweet Thorn is a cosmopolitan tree, occurring in almost every corner of South Africa and beyond our borders as far as Angola and Zambia. Depending on the depth and water content of the soil where it grows, the Sweet Thorn may be shrub-like in appearance or grow to a tree 5 to12m high. The formidable paired thorns, or spines, are often longest on younger plants and may be as long as 17cm!
The bane of hay fever sufferers all over the country, masses of yellow pom-pom flowers are produced during the summer months. These flowers are pollinated by a large variety of insects. Sweet Thorns are hardy, thanks to their deep en extensive root systems, live for up to 40 years, and does become invasive in areas suffering from overgrazing. The IUCN lists the Sweet Thorn as being of least concern.
The Sweet Thorn is an integral part of the history of many South African cultures, with uses as wide-ranging as traditional medicine, a coffee-substitute, bee farming, fodder for game and stock, fencing, tanning of hides, making ropes, and even needles! Even its name is suggestive of the sweet and tasty gum exuding from wounds on the trunk and branches, prized not only by humans but also animals like the lesser bushbaby.
de Wets Wild 
Thanks for showcasing this lovely tree. (I hope you are not one of the hay fever sufferers? My spouse can be susceptible when lots are in full flower.)
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In our family it is poor Marilize that has to contend with the hayfever when the Sweet Thorns are in bloom, and there’s quite a number of them along the Moreleta Spruit flowing through our residential area.
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Oh dear, I sympathize with Marilize. Hayfever can be exhausting to deal with.
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Those pom flowers indicate to me that the sweet thorn is a variety of acacia. The plants around here can be shrubs or they can be trained by trimming to be a tree.
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You are quite right, John – up until fairly recently our thorn trees were classified as “Acacia”, until the powers-that-be decided that the genus applies only to trees found in Australia, sending the Sweet Thorn and its African relatives to the genus Vachellia.
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I wonder if that means the acacia trees in Arizona have been reclassified…
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Unless they descend from imports from Down Under they probably were, John. But what’s in a name?
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Indeed, whatever they are, they are beautiful when bedecked with poms.
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Dis pragtig as hulle blom, maar gee my so hooikoors!
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Oe, Aletta, jy is nie alleen daar nie. Arme Marilize loop ook kwaai deur.
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Ek voel vir haar😊
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Looks like trees and plants we see here, with thorns hidden under the beauty.
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I suppose in a harsh landscape it is necessary to protect your living with everything you have!
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🙂 And lose as little water as possible.
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Acacia … Vachellia … a rose by any other name … I love these trees and your photographs remind me of swathes of them in bloom in the Mountain Zebra National Park.
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I certainly can’t think of places where the Soetdoring comes more into its own than along the drainage lines in Mountain Zebra and Karoo National Parks.
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I love trees! I saw acacias in the Negev desert in Israel and in the arid deserts of Peru and despite being thorny the have a unique shape that I like. Even the considered “perfect medicine” Aspirin is made from an acacia from Africa. Great post, my friend. 🙂
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Often times their unique shapes are the result of being heavily browsed – in Africa from the bottom by antelope and from the top by giraffes!
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