Local names:
Arabic (subahi,shubahi,kitr achbash), Tigrigna (kenteb)
Acacia laeta is a shrub or small tree 4-10 m tall with fissured, grey-green bark that seems to be black when seen from a distance and a rounded crown. Young branchlets glabrous, grey-brown or rarely purplish. Stipules not spinescent. Prickles in pairs, claw-shaped, just below each node, purplish-black or black, hooked, 3-5.5 mm long, recurved, sometimes with a third intermediate prickle which is curved towards the top. Where the intermediate prickle is missing, there is often a leaf in its place. Slash pink. Leaves bipinnate with 3-5 pairs of fairly large pinnate leaflets and 2-5 pairs of pinnae; petiole 0.6-2 cm. The leaflets are 4-15 (20) cm long, 2-7 (10) mm wide, obliquely obovate-elliptic or oblong, glabrous or puberulous, venose, rounded to mucronate or subacute, medium sized and clearly separated from each other and asymmetric. Gland often present near petiole base. Rachis glands present between two pairs of pinnae. Flowers in racemes, small, very fragrant, yellow, white or cream, in 3-8 cm long spikes, pedunculate, subsessile, bundled in triplets. Stamens are conspicuous and yellow; filaments 5-7 mm long. Fruit a pale brown leathery pod, 3.5-8 x 1.7-2.8 cm, oblong, rounded to acuminate at apex, with lateral veins, dehiscent, apiculate, very flat, constricted with thickened margin, solitary or borne in tufts. Seeds few, subcircular to lenticular, 8-10 mm in diameter. The generic name ‘acacia’ comes from the Greek word ‘akis’, meaning point or barb.
Ecology
A. laeta is resistant to drought and prefers stony or rocky sites.
Native range
Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Yemen, Republic of
Tree management
During the first two years weeds must be efficiently controlled, and the plantation must be protected from fire and livestock. The practice of stripping the bark should be discouraged as it frequently kills the tree.
Seeds storage behaviour is orthodox; long-term storage. On average, there are 8 500-10 000 seeds/kg.
A. laeta is resistant to drought and prefers stony or rocky sites.
Natural regeneration is poor in pure stands but occurs in neighbouring open spaces. Depending on the site of collection and age, pre-treatment of seed may be required. Fresh seed will germinate without pre-treatment coming up within 4-5 days. Older seeds should be soaked in hot water or treated with concentrated sulphuric acid before sowing. Growth in the nursery is fast and seedlings can be ready with in 3.5 months of sowing. Direct seeding is possible; cultivation in polythene pots in the nursery is practiced.
The gum produced by A. laeta is edible.
Leaves and pods of the tree are browsed by livestock.
A. laeta is a suitable source of firewood and charcoal.
Fibre: Bark is used for making ropes.
Timber: Wood is used for local construction.
Tannin or dyestuff: Animal skins are tanned using a watery solution derived form the bark of trees.
Wood of A. laeta is used to make fence posts. The tree can tolerate repeated browsing giving it a good potential as a hedging tree.