Vachellia nilotica | Gum arabic tree

Common Name : Prickly acacia, Gum arabic tree, Babul, Babool Scientific Name : Vachellia nilotica Family : Fabaceae[pea family]

Kingdom – Plantae

Species - nilotica

Order - Fabales

Genus - Vachellia

Origin / Native - Africa, Middle East, West Asia, India

Synonym - Acacia nilotica, mimosa arabica, acacia nilotica subsp. indica

Height - Up to 60 feet tall

Category - Semi-deciduous medium or large tree

Flowers - Small,bright golden yellow, globose, hairy inflorescences,fragrant, clustered, apears in leaf-axils with hairy stalks

Flowering season - Sep to January

Foliage&Plant - Simple, twice compound leaves, elliptic 28 pairs of leaflets

Fruits&Pods - Greyish green-young, flat, matured pods-dark brownish black, fragrant

Wood - Hard, reddish brown

Attracts - Birds, bees, butterflies

Maintenance- Full sun, part shade

Propagation- Seeds

Found In- Riverside, woodland, grassland

Tamil - Karuvela maram

Hindi - Kikar

Photographs: Guna Selvi Camera: Nikon D40x Location : Lalbagh Botanical Garden, Mavalli, Bangalore[Bengaluru], Karnataka, India