Local names:
English (river acacia), Somali (burra,bura), Swahili (mgunga)
Acacia elatior is a tall, evergreen, riverine tree, 7-40 m tall; crown rounded or flattish; bark brown to almost black, deeply fissured; stipular spines of 2 kinds in pairs at the nodes - shorter, 7 mm, brown, sometimes, curved spines, alternating with longer spines, which may reach 9 cm and are straight, white, with a swollen base; the larger spines are sometimes inflated to about 6 (max. 15) mm across; trunk is large, and young twigs are reddish-brown. Leaves with 5-13 pairs of pinnae; leaflets in (min. 7) 13-25 pairs, 1.2-4 x 0.5-1.4 mm, small and narrow, glabrous or ciliate; petiole 3-10 mm; petiole and rachis glands absent. Flowers in round heads, greenish-white or white to very pale yellow; involucel small, about 1/3 along length of peduncle. Fruits are brown to purplish-brown pods, straight or slightly falcate, narrowly oblong, 3.5-12 x 1.2-1.8 cm, tapering at the tip, papery texture, dehiscent; seeds olive-brown, subcircular, 6-7 mm in diameter, thin, flattened. In Kenya, two subspecies are recogized namely subs. elatior and subs. turkanae The generic name ‘acacia’ comes from the Greek word ‘akis’, meaning a point or a barb.
Ecology
A. elatior occurs along rivers and lakes, near drainage lines or on dry beds of arid and semi-arid regions. In Kenya, it is mainly restricted to the Galana and Tana rivers in the east and Kerio River, Lodwar and the vicinity of L. Turkana in the west.
Native range
Kenya, Sudan, Uganda
Tree management
Trees grow fast if planted in riverbeds but are slow elsewhere.
Seed storage behaviour is orthodox.
A. elatior occurs along rivers and lakes, near drainage lines or on dry beds of arid and semi-arid regions. In Kenya, it is mainly restricted to the Galana and Tana rivers in the east and Kerio River, Lodwar and the vicinity of L. Turkana in the west.
A. elatior naturally regenerates from seedlings and wildings. Young plants are slow in starting their upward growth.
Erosion control: The trees may be planted to stabilize river banks.
Pods and young shoots are browsed by livestock.
A. elatior wood produces good firewood and charcoal.
Timber: The Turkana of Kenya use the wood to make drinking vessels.
Shade or shelter: The drooping branches and feathery leaves of A. elatior provide good shade.
Medicine: In Kenya a bark decoction is used to treat diarrhoea and gonorrhoea and as a remedy for coughs.
The tree provides suitable fencing for livestock enclosures; used by the Maasai of Kenya.