Acacia karroo (Vachellia
karroo) Sweet thorn
This is one of South Africa
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Acacia karroo
Acacia karroo which is native
to southern Africa is
a very attractive medium sized tree which due to it´s very wide natural
distribution and tolerance to a wide range of soil types makes it suitable as a
landscape tree in practically in any proudly South African garden.
CMR Bean Beetle Mylabris oculata
In addition to being very
attractive and suitable as a landscape feature it is also environmentally a
very productive tree that attracts very large numbers of insects when in flower
in particular honey bees which makes it an asset to any garden. When out of
flower it is the host for a large number of insect species including butterfly
many or which are a valuable food source for in particular birds. Acacia karroo is fast growing and flowers when very small so there is no need to wait for years to see and to experience the benefits of planting this tree.
Honey Bee Mimic Eristalinus taeniops
Acacia karroo is an integrally
part of our country's history having been used for everything from raft-making
to sewing needles and fencing for the houses of the royal Zulu women. The
thorns were even used by early naturalists to pin the insects they collected!
Common Dotted Fruit Chafer Cyrtothyrea marginalis
A long running debate about
the classification of Acacia was resolved at the 2011 Botanical
Conference held in Melbourne
The debate arose out of
research over the past few decades which established that the two main groups
of acacias (the African and Australian groups) were distinct and needed to be
separated into different genera. The debate centered around the issue of which
group of plants would retain the name Acacia, based on the following
opposing views:
Those supporting the
retention of the name Acacia for the African group argued that the
genus was originally described from an African species, Acacia nilotica
Those supporting the
retention of Acacia for the Australian group argued that the vast
majority of species occurred in Australia
In the end the Australians were
the winners and a group of African trees know as Acacias since ancient and biblical
times now have other names.
Until the reclassification of
the genus, Acacia had about 1400 species spread over five sub-genera. Now Acacia is a genus of around 1000
species, most of which occur in Australia
with another dozen or so being found in Asia .
Garden Fruit Chafer Pachnoda
sinuata
What we have always known as
Acacia karroo is now officially known as
Vachellia karroo a name
that many including myself having voted against the name change will never
accept.
