Senegalia fleckii

Tilcayo Cats original · Plants · Sources and editorial assessment · Originals retention rule

Senegalia fleckii is a shrub or small tree of southern Africa, in the pea family, Fabaceae. Kew records it from Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe south through Namibia and Botswana to South Africa. It is also known under the older name Acacia fleckii.

Description

The Flora Zambesiaca account describes plants 1.5–10 metres tall, with a rounded crown and pale bark that flakes. Strong, backward-curving prickles grow in pairs below the twig nodes. The leaves are twice divided and usually have more pairs of branches than those of the related Senegalia erubescens.

Small white flowers form elongated spikes. The straight seed pods are pale brown to straw-coloured and open at maturity. Tiny reddish glands occur on the pods and young twigs. The seeds are roughly circular, about 8–12 mm across.

Habitat and identification

The southern African flora records dry deciduous woodland, scrub and thicket, including sandy flats near rivers. It notes that the plant is frequent on Kalahari sand. It also cautions that S. fleckii and S. erubescens are often confused; identification should consider the leaves and other features together.

Botanical names

Older publications may call this plant Senegalia cinerea. Kew now accepts S. fleckii, published in 2015, and lists S. cinerea as an illegitimate, superfluous name. It also records the earlier Acacia cinerea Schinz as an illegitimate later homonym: that name had already been used. These nomenclatural problems concern the names, rather than demonstrating separate species.