Taxon: Vachellia tortilis (Forssk.) Galasso & Banfi

Summary

Genus:

Vachellia

Family:

Fabaceae (alt. Leguminosae)

Subfamily:

Caesalpinioideae

Tribe:

Acacieae

Nomen number:

465247

Place of publication:

Atti Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat. Mus. Civico Storia Nat. Milano 149:150. 2008

Verified:

05/12/2012 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

6 (0 active, 0 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

Vachellia tortilis (Forssk.) Galasso & Banfi subsp. heteracantha (Burch.) Kyal. & Boatwr. (0 active accession[s])
Vachellia tortilis (Forssk.) Galasso & Banfi subsp. raddiana (Savi) Kyal. & Boatwr. (0 active accession[s])
Vachellia tortilis (Forssk.) Galasso & Banfi subsp. spirocarpa (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) Kyal. & Boatwr. (0 active accession[s])
Vachellia tortilis (Forssk.) Galasso & Banfi subsp. tortilis (0 active accession[s])

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

Basionym
Mimosa tortilis Forssk.

Homotypic Synonym(s)
Acacia tortilis (Forssk.) Hayne

No images

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
Kyalangalilwa, B. & J. S. Boatwright. 2013. Phylogenetic position and revised classification of Acacia s.l. (Fabaceae: Mimosoideae) in Africa, including new combinations in Vachellia and Senegalia. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 172:517.

Common names

Language	Name	seq	Citation
English	umbrella-thorn	1	Wiersema, J. H. & B. León. 1999. World economic plants: a standard reference CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
Afrikaans	haak-en-steek	2	Timberlake, J. et al. 1999. Field guide to the acacias of Zimbabwe. Note: as Acacia tortilis
India	Israeli babul	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants Note: as Acacia tortilis
Spanish	espino de parasol	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants Note: as Acacia tortilis
Transliterated Arabic	talha	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants Note: as Acacia tortilis

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	Reference
1	Native	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Kenya			Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1	Native	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Tanzania			Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1	Native	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Uganda			Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Northeast Tropical Africa	Chad
1	Native	Africa	Northeast Tropical Africa	Ethiopia
1	Native	Africa	Northeast Tropical Africa	Somalia
1	Native	Africa	Northeast Tropical Africa	Sudan
1	Native	Africa	Northern Africa	Algeria
1	Native	Africa	Northern Africa	Egypt
1	Native	Africa	Northern Africa	Libya			Ali, S. I. & S. M. H. Jafri, eds. 1976-. Flora of Libya.
1	Native	Africa	Northern Africa	Morocco		s.
1	Native	Africa	Northern Africa	Tunisia			Pottier-Alapetite, G. 1979-1981. Flore de la Tunisie: Angiospermes-Dicotyledones.
1	Native	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Angola
1	Native	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Mozambique			Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
1	Native	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Zambia			Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
1	Native	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Zimbabwe			Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	Botswana			Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	Eswatini			Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	Namibia			Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Free State		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Gauteng		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	KwaZulu-Natal		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Limpopo		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Mpumalanga		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Northern Cape		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	North-West		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Mali
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Mauritania
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Niger
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Nigeria
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Senegal
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Arabian Peninsula	Oman			Ghazanfar, S. A. 1992. An annotated catalogue of the vascular plants of Oman. Scripta Botanica Belgica 2
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Arabian Peninsula	Saudi Arabia			Migahid, A. M. 1988-1990. Flora of Saudi Arabia, ed. 3.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Arabian Peninsula	Yemen			Wood, J. R. I. 1997. A handbook of the Yemen flora.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Western Asia	Israel			Zohary, M. & N. Feinbrun-Dothan. 1966-. Flora palaestina.
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Western Asia	Israel			Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6
2	Cultivated	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India			Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6

Native
Africa

NORTHERN AFRICA: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco (s.), Tunisia
NORTHEAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, Chad
EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
WEST TROPICAL AFRICA: Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal
SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Angola, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Botswana, Namibia, Eswatini, South Africa [Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North-West]

Asia-Temperate

ARABIAN PENINSULA: Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen
WESTERN ASIA: Israel

Cultivated
Asia-Temperate

WESTERN ASIA: Israel

Asia-Tropical

INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: India

Reference(s)

Ali, S. I. & S. M. H. Jafri, eds. 1976-. Flora of Libya.
Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
Ghazanfar, S. A. 1992. An annotated catalogue of the vascular plants of Oman. Scripta Botanica Belgica 2
Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6
Migahid, A. M. 1988-1990. Flora of Saudi Arabia, ed. 3.
Pottier-Alapetite, G. 1979-1981. Flore de la Tunisie: Angiospermes-Dicotyledones.
Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
Wood, J. R. I. 1997. A handbook of the Yemen flora.
Zohary, M. & N. Feinbrun-Dothan. 1966-. Flora palaestina.

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Reference
Bee plants	honey production	Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6 Note: as Acacia tortilis
Environmental	erosion control	National Academy of Sciences. 1979. Tropical legumes: resources for the future Note: as Acacia tortilis
Fuels	fuelwood	National Academy of Sciences. 1980. Firewood crops. Shrub and tree species for energy production Note: as Acacia tortilis

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=465247. Accessed 15 April 2026.