Acacia erioloba

Taxobox
name = "Acacia erioloba"


image_width = 250px
image_caption = "Acacia erioloba" Camel Thorn


image2_width = 250px
image2_caption = Seeds and pods
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Fabales
familia = Fabaceae
subfamilia = Mimosoideae
tribus = Acacieae
genus = "Acacia"
species = "A. erioloba"
binomial = "Acacia erioloba"
binomial_authority = Meyer, Ernst Heinrich Friedrich (1791-1858)

"Acacia erioloba" (formerly "Acacia giraffae"), is also commonly known as the Camel Thorn, "Kameeldoring" (Afrikaans), Giraffe Thorn or "Mokala" (Tswana). The Mokala National Park in the Northern Cape is named after this tree.

It is a thorn acacia native to the drier parts of Southern Africa. It occurs in the Transvaal, western Free State, northern Cape Province, Botswana and Namibia. It was described by William John Burchell, however Jacobus Coetse already named the tree in 1760, some 50 years earlier.

It can grow up to 17 metres high. The name refers to the fact that giraffe ("kameelperd" in Afrikaans) commonly graze on the hard-to-reach succulent leaves normally out of reach of smaller animals. Giraffe are partial to all acacias and manifest a specially-adapted tongue and lips that can cope with the vicious thorns. It also grows ear-shaped pods, which are favoured by a large number of herbivores including cattle. The wood is dark reddish-brown in colour and extremely dense and strong. It is slow-growing, very hardy to drought and fairly frost-resistant.

Unfortunately it is a good fuel, which leads to widespread clearing of dead trees and the felling of healthy trees. According to superstition, lightning will strike at "A. erioloba" more readily than other trees. It is also possible to roast the seeds to be used as a substitute for coffee beans.