Acacia leucophloea

Invasive species Disclaimer

In view of the fact that some tree species are invasive, the world Agroforestry Center (ICRAF) has put in place a policy document on Invasive Alien Species, currently under draft available at Here.

For more information on this subject, please refer to
100 of the World's worst Invasive and Alien Species.




Species Index    A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Multiple Criteria Search


Abelmoschus moschatus
Acacia aneura
Acacia angustissima
Acacia aulacocarpa
Acacia auriculiformis
Acacia catechu
Acacia cincinnata
Acacia crassicarpa
Acacia elatior
Acacia erioloba
Acacia etbaica
Acacia ferruginea
Acacia glauca
Acacia holosericea
Acacia karroo*
Acacia koa
Acacia laeta
Acacia lahai
Acacia leptocarpa
Acacia leucophloea
Acacia mangium
Acacia mearnsii*
Acacia melanoxylon
Acacia mellifera
Acacia nilotica subsp nilotica
Acacia pachycarpa
Acacia pennatula
Acacia polyacantha ssp. polyacantha
Acacia saligna
Acacia senegal
Acacia seyal
Acacia sieberiana
Acacia tortilis
Acacia xanthophloea
Acrocarpus fraxinifolius
Adansonia digitata
Adenanthera pavonina
Aegle marmelos
Afzelia africana
Afzelia quanzensis
Agathis macrophylla
Agathis philippinensis
Ailanthus altissima
Ailanthus excelsa
Ailanthus triphysa
Albizia adianthifolia
Albizia amara
Albizia anthelmintica
Albizia chinensis
Albizia coriaria
Albizia ferruginea
Albizia gummifera
Albizia julibrissin
Albizia lebbeck
Albizia odoratissima
Albizia procera
Albizia saman
Albizia versicolor
Albizia zygia
Aleurites moluccana
Allanblackia floribunda
Allanblackia stuhlmannii
Allanblackia ulugurensis
Alnus acuminata
Alnus cordata
Alnus japonica
Alnus nepalensis
Alnus rubra
Alphitonia zizyphoides
Alstonia boonei
Alstonia congensis
Alstonia scholaris
Altingia excelsa
Anacardium occidentale
Andira inermis
Annona cherimola
Annona muricata
Annona reticulata
Annona senegalensis
Annona squamosa
Anogeissus latifolia
Anthocephalus cadamba
Antiaris toxicaria
Antidesma bunius
Araucaria bidwillii
Araucaria cunninghamii
Arbutus unedo
Areca catechu
Arenga pinnata
Argania spinosa
Artemisia annua
Artocarpus altilis
Artocarpus camansi
Artocarpus heterophyllus
Artocarpus integer
Artocarpus lakoocha
Artocarpus mariannensis
Asimina triloba
Ateleia herbert-smithii
Aucomea klaineana
Averrhoa bilimbi
Averrhoa carambola
Azadirachta excelsa
Azadirachta indica
Azanza garckeana
Related Links
Acacia leucophloea pods
© Anthony Njenga

Local names:
Bengali (safed babul), Burmese (ta-noung), English (brewers Acacia,white-bark acacia,distillers Acacia), Gujarati (hiwar,haribawal,himvaro,pilo-bawal), Hindi (rhea,karir,haribawal,reru,rinj,safed babul,safed kikkar,rayni), Indonesian (pelang,besok,opilan

Acacia leucophloea is a large thorny tree attaining a height of 35 m and a diameter at breast height of 100 cm. Trunk stout, dividing into several large diameter branches. Open-grown specimens have a characteristic wide umbrella-like crown. Bark white to yellowish gray, smooth, exfoliating in long strips, on old trees becoming black and rough.

Leaves bipinnately compound, with 4-13 pairs of pinnae, each with 5-30 pairs of leaflets. Circular glands found on the rachis below the junction of paired-pinnae. The feathery green foliage offers a strong contrast to the light-coloured bark.

Spines 2-5 mm long, at the base of leaves.

Flowers conspicuous, light-yellow to cream in colour, in pendunculate glomerules aggregated in terminal or axillary panicles, 5-merous, corolla 1.2-2 mm long.

Pods yellow, green or brown in colour, flat and fairly straight, 10-20 cm long, 5-10 mm wide, containing 10-20 smooth, oblong seeds, dark brown in colour, 6 x 4 mm in size.

The generic name ‘acacia’ comes from the Greek word ‘akis’, meaning point or barb.

Ecology

A. leucophloea is a tree of tropical and subtropical climate. It is a component of dry-forests, savannas, bush woodlands, and desert ecosystems from sea level to elevations of 800 m. In these areas, rainfall is only 400-1 500 mm/year and dry seasons may persist for 9-10 months. Temperatures are extreme, varying from –1-49 deg C.

Native range
Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam

Tree management

Direct sowing in the field can be done in lines 3 m apart and thinned after the first growing season to 0.5 m. Seedlings should be planted at 2.5-3 m x 2.5-3 m in July when I year old. Weed control must be maintained for a minimum of two years. Livestock must be excluded from plantations. Annual cultivation around the seedlings improves growth and survival. On fertile soils, A. leucophloea seedlings grow quickly, up to 60 cm a year. Under irrigation, height growth may reach 7-10 m in 5-6 years. Seedlings are light demanding and sensitive to weed competition, fire and frost. In order to exploit sufficient soil moisture, seedling root growth generally exceeds shoot growth. Once established, trees are very tolerant of drought, fire and frost. Pruned or injured trees produce thorny branches and stump sprouts. The tree coppices well, mean annual increment over the 12-year rotation period is 9 cu m/ha of stem wood and 11 cu m/ha for wood over 7 cm diameter.

There are 37 000-50 000 seeds/kg. Pretreatment is necessary to break the hard seed coat. To encourage uniform germination, seed should be scarified either by submerging in boiled water for 24 hours or soaking in sulfuric acid for 10-30 minutes followed by soaking in cool water for 24 hours. The visibly swollen seeds should be sown immediately. Seed storage behaviour is probably orthodox. Viability can be maintained for up to 2 years at room temperature.

A. leucophloea is a tree of tropical and subtropical climate. It is a component of dry-forests, savannas, bush woodlands, and desert ecosystems from sea level to elevations of 800 m. In these areas, rainfall is only 400-1 500 mm/year and dry seasons may persist for 9-10 months. Temperatures are extreme, varying from –1-49 deg C.

A. leucophloea can be established by direct sowing, stump sprouts or seedlings. Direct sowing is preferred because the large roots of seedlings may hamper transplanting. Site should be cleared of weeds and the soil well cultivated. Sowing in the nursery is done in June-July with the commencement of monsoon rains. Seed should be sown at a depth of 1 cm in lines 20-25 cm apart. Germination begins within a week.

A. leucophloea is a good reforestation species for poor soils in low rainfall areas.

 The germinated seeds are cooked and eaten as a vegetable. They contain crude protein 27 % dry matter. The other major nutrient contents are crude lipid 5 %, crude fibre 7 %, ash 4 % and total crude carbohydrates, 58 %. 

The seeds are a rich source of minerals such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron and manganese. The predominant seed protein fractions are globulins and albumins.

The essential amino acids, cystine, methionine, tyrosine and phenylalanine, have been found to be low and threonine, valine, isoleucine and lysine fairly high compared with the FAO/WHO/UNO amino acid recommended pattern.

The lipids contain high amounts of unsaturated fatty acids in which linoleic acid (51 %) is the major fatty acid.

 A. leucophloea is an important dry-season fodder and pasture tree throughout its range. Leaves, tender shoots and pods are eagerly consumed by goats, sheep and cattle. 

Leaves contain 15% crude protein and 19% crude fiber. However, due to hydrocyanic acid toxicity 

A. leucophloea should not be used as a sole feed.

It is appreciated as firewood and is suitable for charcoal production.

Fibre: Fibres from the inner bark are used to make fish nets and rough rope.

Timber: Its wood is strong, heavy and hard, density 720-890 kg/cu m at 15 % moisture content. It seasons well and takes a good polish. The brick-red heartwood is very beautiful and is used to make decorative furniture. The pale yellow sapwood is perishable. The utilization of this species is limited because its wood has irregular interlocked grain, a rough texture and is difficult to work. Commodities produced from the wood include poles, farming implements, carts, wheels, turnery, indoor construction timbers, flooring and furniture.

Shade or shelter: During dry seasons, this tree protects livestock and understory pasture from excessive temperatures. The tree is suitable as a firebreak due to its fire resistance.

Tannin or dyestuff: The leaves yield a black dye and the bark produces a reddish-brown substance used to manufacture dyes and tannins.

Medicine:  Gum is used medicinally.

Gum or resin: A water-soluble gum of fair quality can be extracted from the stem and root bark.

Nitrogen fixing: It fixes atmospheric nitrogen through a symbiotic relationship with Rhizobium bacteria which enables it to survive on infertile sites.

Ornamental: The vivid colors of its leaves, flowers and bark make A. leucophloea a beautiful, yet underutilized, ornamental tree. 

Intercropping: Interplanting A. leucophloea at low densities with crops or pasture grasses can benefit both crops and trees.

Alcohol:  The bark is used to distill liquor in India.