Vachellia seyal

Red acacia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Caesalpinioideae
Clade:	Mimosoid clade
Genus:	Vachellia
Species:	V. seyal
Binomial name
	Vachellia seyal; (Delile) P.J.H.Hurter
Varieties
	Vachellia seyal var. fistula (Schweinf.) Kyal. & Boatwr.; Vachellia seyal var. seyal (Delile) P.J.H.Hurter;
Synonyms
	Acacia fistula Schweinf.; Acacia flava (Forssk.) Schweinf. var. seyal (Delile) Roberty; Acacia seyal Delile; Acacia stenocarpa A.Rich.;

Vachellia seyal, the red acacia, known also as the shittah tree (the source of shittim wood), is a thorny, 6– to 10-m-high (20 to 30 ft) tree with a pale greenish or reddish bark. At the base of the 3–10 cm (1.2–3.9 in) feathery leaves, two straight, light grey thorns grow to 7–20 cm (2.8–7.9 in) long. The blossoms are displayed in round, bright yellow clusters about 1.5 cm (0.59 in) diameter.

In Vachellia seyal var. fistula, which is more common on heavy clay soils, some of the thorns are swollen and house symbiotic ants.^[2]

It is distributed from Egypt to Kenya and west to Senegal. In the Sahara, it often grows in damp valleys. It is also found at wadis on the Arabian Peninsula.

^ ILDIS LegumeWeb
^ Young, T.P.; Cynthia H. Stubblefield; Lynne A. Isbell (December 1996). "Ants on swollen-thorn acacias: species coexistence in a simple system". Oecologia. 109 (1): 98–107. doi:10.1007/s004420050063. PMID 28307618. S2CID 26354370.

[1] ILDIS LegumeWeb

[Young-2] Young, T.P.; Cynthia H. Stubblefield; Lynne A. Isbell (December 1996). "Ants on swollen-thorn acacias: species coexistence in a simple system". Oecologia. 109 (1): 98–107. doi:10.1007/s004420050063. PMID 28307618. S2CID 26354370.

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