Botanical name
|
Dichrostachys cinerea
|
Other names
|
Sickle bush; sekelbos (Afrikaans); Dichrostachys glomerata subsp. nyassana
|
Family
|
Mimosoideae
|
Dimensions
|
Usually an untidy looking shrub, very thorny, sometimes a small tree of 4 to 5 m that may form thickets in overgrazed veld
|
Description of stem
|
The bark is brown to grey and rough; the multiple branches are haphazardly entwined; numerous small spur branches are partly spines, but often still bear leaves and flowers
|
Description of leaves
|
The leaves resemble some acacia species, are bipinnate with many pinnae and leaflets that are darker above than below; small glands occur on the rachis
|
Description of flowers
|
Attractive bicolour yellow (at the apex) and pink (at the base) fluffy flower spikes are distinctive identification features; the flower clusters are often pendulous; only the yellow flower components are fertile; the pink part has some colour variations
|
Description of seed/fruit
|
Clusters of convoluted, indehiscent seed pods, somewhat similar to those of Acacia tortilis, are borne on long stalks
|
Description of roots
|
|
Variation
|
Its wide distribution across Africa, Asia and Australia is associated with a considerable degree of variation and recorded subspecies (more than 10, but fewer may survive future revisions)
|
Propagation and cultivation
|
|
Tolerances
|
Hardy in summer rainfall regions; maybe limited in capacity to withstand cold
|
Uses
|
Leaves serve in traditional medicine for treating diarrhoea, toothache, earache, snakebite, tuberculosis, epilepsy and open wounds; the roots have been used in treating nose bleed, colic and pneumonia; cattle and game browse the pods; the wood is hard and durable and used for making tool handles and fence posts, but seldom yield very large pieces
|
Ecological rarity
|
Common, sometimes invades
|
Pests and diseases
|
|
Other
|
|
Location
|
Wooded grassland, may invade degraded and overgrazed areas
|
Distribution (SA provinces)
|
Northern Cape; Free State; Kwazulu-Natal; Mpumalanga; Limpopo; Gauteng; North West
|
Country
|
South Africa; Mozambique; Swaziland; Zimbabwe; Zambia; Botswana; Namibia; Angola and further northward in Africa; Australia; India
|