Spiraled Acacia

Picture Resource: By Robur.q - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

This tree belongs to the Leguminosae family; it is a short desert tree with an inspiring umbrella shape: a single non-branched trunk reaches up to 3 meters height with brown-reddish bark, the roots grow deeply in the soil, and it has sharp and rigid thorns. The leaves are alternate, bipinnate, compound with smooth margin. The flowers are light yellow, arranged densely in small globules with no petals, hermaphrodite, and flowering periods from October to December and also in March –April. The fruit is a curled legume.

Ecology:  It grows in places where there is water at great depths, it is mostly found in the beds of seasonal streams in the desert. It constitutes the landscape in the extreme desert where trees are accompanied by desert shrubs and dwarf shrubs, and herbaceous Mediterranean plants.

Habitat: Desert, Thermophilous plant, it is glycophyte in terms of salt resistance. This tree follows the Sudanian botanical zone.

Uses: Acacia raddiana is known to be an efficient wound healer. It is also a source for polyphenols. It is granted many other uses which sometimes correspond to a much localized use only. There is a extreme demand on the wood as fuel fire wood and charcoal and it is a well valued material in handicraft mortars and plates.

Distributions in Palestine: The Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts

Other names: Ingoka.

 IUCN red list status: least concern 
Local status: least concern