Senegalia afra, also known as hook-thorn or Acacia afra, is a tree that occurs commonly in southern Africa. Though it is cultivated, it often occurs naturally in Gauteng suburban gardens, together with Acacia karroo and Acacia robusta.
It is up to tall and may be found in open woodland, grassland, rocky hillsides or watercourses.
Description
It has extremely hard, dense and attractive timber, and is only spared from intense exploitation because of its strongly twisted trunk which does not lend itself to long planks, and its tendency to develop
heart rot.
The bark is rough, dark grey and flaking, while the strong, paired hooked thorns are a formidable deterrent on young plants. Twigs which may vary in hairiness from densely puberulous to pubescent or tomentose.
[ Flora Zambesiaca] Due to its variability the species has been described under many names, some being listed below.
Senegalia afra is deciduous and older plants are resistant to frost, fire and drought. Its appearance may be confused with that of Senegalia ataxacantha or with Senegalia hereroensis, though the former has scattered prickles and the latter has more robust prickles. Together with Dombeya rotundifolia and Erythrina lysistemon, this species is one of the earliest to flower in spring, producing strongly scented flower spikes.[ A Field Guide to the Acacias of Southern Africa - Lynette Davidson, Barbara Jeppe]
Distribution
It occurs in the Transvaal,
Eswatini,
KwaZulu-Natal,
Cape Province and the southern regions of
Botswana,
Zimbabwe and
Mozambique.
Senegalia afra was also observed, in 1957, by French researchers in the current Central African Republic.
Uses
Parts of the tree are used by the
Bantu peoples in traditional herbal medicine for curing a large range of complaints.
A decoction of the leaves is drunk to treat colds and fever299.
A leaf decoction, combined with milk, is used as an enema to treat abdominal complaints in children. The leaves are sometimes chewed for the same purpose299.
A bark infusion is administered as a blood purifier299.
A number of proteracacinidins (proanthocyanidins) have been isolated from the heartwood, and several cyanogenic glycosides from the leaves299
The magical uses in South Africa are numerous. A sprig is placed over a bed to war off evil. It is used in money and love spells and the burned wood stimulates psychic powers
Chemistry
In common with other
Acacias and
Senegalias, the bark and leaves are rich in tannins such as
proteracacinidin.
[Structure and synthesis of ether-linked proteracacinidin and promelacacinidin proanthocyanidins from Acacia caffra. L Bennie, E Malan, J Coetzee and D Ferreira, Phytochemistry, 2000][A (4β→ 5)-linked proteracacinidin dimer from the heartwood of Acacia caffra. E Malan, Phytochemistry, 1995][A novel doubly-linked proteracacinidin analogue from Acacia caffra. E Malan, A Sireeparsad, JFW Burger and D Ferreira, Tetrahedron letters, 1994]
Taxonomy
The original etymology of its previous species epithet "
caffra" is related to kaffir, an ethnic slur used towards black people in Africa. At the July 2024 International Botanical Congress, a vote was held with the result that "
caffra" related names will be emended to
afra related ones, with the implementation of this happening by the end of July 2024.
Gallery
Acacia caffra08.jpg|
Acacia caffra07.jpg|
Acacia caffra04.jpg|
Acacia caffra01.jpg|
Acacia caffra06.jpg|
See also
-
List of Southern African indigenous trees and woody lianes
